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I recently went back to my hometown in the USA after a couple of decades away. I was struck by how there we're almost none of the fireflies, grasshoppers and as
by alangibson 4y ago
I recently went back to my hometown in the USA after a couple of decades away. I was struck by how there we're almost none of the fireflies, grasshoppers and assorted other bugs I'd chased as a kid. I chalked it up to being a nostalgic old man, but I've never shaken that feeling that something is definitely not right.
- devmor 4y agoI saw Fireflies for the first time two years ago after moving to the Southeast US. I saw very few last year. I saw zero this year. I'm glad I got to experience them before they were all gone, I guess.
- jay_kyburz 4y agoMy kids are 10 and 11 and the saw their first grasshopper last summer. They were everywhere when I was a kid. Christmas beetles are a rare find these days. I haven't seen a Bogon moth in years.
- sarchertech 4y agoFireflies (we call them lightning bugs in the south) fluctuate yearly. Some years there are very few of them. It’s always been like that from talking to relatives.
- INTPenis 4y agoSad and frightening to hear. Funny though but here in southern Sweden and Denmark I've had the opposite experience. Sometime around 2018 I started noticing a lot of fireflies, in a park in the middle of a major city. Which was not normal to me. Since then I've noticed them almost every summer. And on vacation in Denmark it's the same thing, the air is alive with life. It has its downsides too because there are more ticks than ever too. A lot of cities here have started leaving grassy areas uncut, they just cut a path through it for people to walk on. Also Copenhagen has started building "walls" of twigs, encased in a wire mesh. These walls act as safe havens for all sorts of insects and small creatures.
- Zigurd 4y agoI grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. On hot summer evenings the fireflies were spectacular. The cooler summers of New England meant many fewer fireflies. But, in the past couple of years I have noticed more of them where I now live.
- nemo44x 4y agoCould be because you aren’t there in the grass and fields actively looking for them. If you garden and spend time in it, it’s amazing what you find.
- alangibson 4y agoI noticed it in my grandmother's backyard, so that variable was controlled. Then I noticed it pretty much in all my old haunts. Sample size N = 1, etc.
- luxuryballs 4y ago5G and emf seems reasonable but will they turn it off for a few years and find out? nope
- Nasrudith 4y agoAnecdotal, but I was pleased to see fireflies returning after not seeing them post puberty. Not denying general trends at all but it makes me wonder what is the cause of counter examples. Maybe more neighbors not overgrooming their lawns or the local park's native species garden?
- mod 4y agoIn the case of fireflies, they lay eggs in leaf litter. So you need some unkempt properties or wild land.
- dunefox 4y agoSeems like you were too successful in chasing them as a child. ;)