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> I love fireflies. But in recent years, they stopped coming for reasons I don’t know. No tiny, glowing dots in the dark like they used to. I miss them more tha
by stared 1y ago
> I love fireflies. But in recent years, they stopped coming for reasons I don’t know. No tiny, glowing dots in the dark like they used to. I miss them more than I expected.
Light pollution, and even more: pesticides.
Population of all insects fall dramatically.
"Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years" - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-...
- SAI_Peregrinus 1y agoAlso people removing fallen leaves. They lay their eggs in leaf litter, if there's no leaf litter there won't be any fireflies looking to mate.
- BobbyTables2 1y agoI have memories of the front of the car being caked in bugs from night driving and long daytime trips. Doesn’t seem to happen anymore…
- rickydroll 1y agoAs I understand it, fireflies are vulnerable to lawn chemicals and light pollution. They spend something like 2 years as grubs and then a few weeks as adults above ground. Lawn/in-ground pesticides kill the grubs, and light pollution interferes with finding a mate.
- ubermonkey 1y ago30 years ago, when I moved to Houston, a 1910s-1920s residential area called the Heights was somewhat famous for its fireflies -- though longtime residents would tell you they were drastically diminished from what they'd been in the 60s or 70s. By 20 years ago, they were almost entirely gone.