re: Where did the Fireflies go???

Go to Pigeon Forge. They are everywhere!

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I remember about 15 yrs ago, there was mention of a dip in firefly population. Much like the honeybees. But I saw a good number the next year or so.

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The overall population is still going down. The western honeybee population is going up, and we probably have more western honeybees now than we ever have, though the lifespan of the average hive has been decreasing. When "Save the bees!" gets embraced by someone they almost exclusively believe it is the western honeybee that needs saving, but that isn't the case. That honeybee population boom is problematic because they aren't supposed to be here, they aren't native species. To some extent their existence here is a detriment to our native pollinators because they're allowed to overwhelm food sources. Add into that the fact that western honeybees are more insulated against pesticides, and generally protected from habitat loss. Most of our native bee species are solitary bees that don't handle insecticide exposure like a honeybee hive does, and are wholly dependent upon wild habitat. That's unfortunate, too, because our native bees are, generally, much better and more efficient pollinators than the western honeybee.

The same story can be told for pretty much all native pollinators......butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, etc.

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Haven’t yall had this discussion before? Pretty sure yall have so why keep harping on it.

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I think the average age of users on this site has shifted heavily into the elderly phase. We're going to see more and more repetitions of confused Pepperidge Farm memes.

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Lightning bug and are interchangeable. When we see them in our yards there are different ones occupying different areas. The Evening Firefly most of us see start first then the Tree flashers come next they all have different flashes. If people mowed a little less or did not manage their entire yards as well as left leaf litter it can help a lot.

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There's an early Spring species, too, the Spring Tree-top Flasher. It is out really early in the year.

And then you have firefly species that don't flash for mating, but use their flash from the ground to lure in males of other species so that they can eat them.

Want to nerd out get this book Fireflies Glow-worms and Lightning Bugs by Lynn F Faust.

I am very fortunate I get to work doing education for the Synchronous Firefly Event in Elkmont in Smoky Mtns. We focus in 5 species but there are 19 in the area.

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Light pollution and habitat loss. They need the leaf litter to lay eggs and the larva are in soil for 1 - 2 years. If you till up soil, remove taller foliage that adults hide in during the day it it reduces numbers along with pesticides. Light pollution reduces their ability to find a mate - al the females stay on or close to the ground and males flash their pattern hoping a female sees them and flashes back

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You know what else is in the soil, eats everything, then moves on to another patch of soil with every rain? Fire ants.....

You people are so blinded by the conventional "wisdom" that you can't even see what is crawling up your own leg.

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Want to nerd out get this book Fireflies Glow-worms and Lightning Bugs by Lynn F Faust.

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I heard about this one on a podcast a while back. I'll have to check it out.

They were actually mini drones and they’ve been replaced by bird drones.

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males flash their pattern hoping a female sees them and flashes back

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This is like buying a squirt of POLO from the machine in the bathroom at the bar.

My backyard apparently. They are everywhere in in Middle TN. Driving home at night your windshield will glow green even after smacking them.