Photographing the Common Eastern (USA) Firefly (Photinus pyralis) photos and information on how to get great pictures of fireflies even in flight ([We need to ask around to see if bug people feel like this photography link is OK to share, or would be harmful])

Femme Fatales: Mimicry & Murder

"Some feisty females exploit this unique mating ritual. Females of the genus Photuris use ‘aggressive mimicry’ to secure a feed. When males of another genus flash, the female responds with the flash pattern. She lures the male in, and once close enough, she eats him.

This deviant behavior comes down to defense. Unlike other species, adult females of the genus Photuris don’t produce chemical defenses. This leaves them as easy pickings for predators. By eating the males, his chemical defenses are transferred to the female, providing her with protection until she mates. But the males have clued in, learning to spot the phonies to avoid being duped." - https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2014/10/12/lightning-bugs-natures-flash-dancers/

Threats to Fireflies

Firefly Festivals & Tourism

These bring large crowds of tourists to delicate ecosystems. These tourists don't understand the delicacy of these insects nor the environments that they live in. There is generally little understanding of the harm that camera flashes do at these vital times in the insect's reproductive cycle. As a result habitats are damaged, fire flies fail to find mates, and their numbers drop further.

Fireflies face extinction risk - and tourists are partly to blame "Firefly tourism is on the rise globally but scientists are warning it may contribute to risk of the insect's extinction." "...firefly tourism is often crucial to local economies and should not be banned." "Instead tour operators and tourists can develop eco-friendly practices." Article explains the problem and solutions.

Harvesting / Poaching / Wild Fireflies

The Chinese environmental group 萤火虫生态线 (Firefly Ecological Line) has been speaking out and organizing protests against such firefly exhibitions. But they say that even if they can convince Chinese amusement parks to halt their live firefly shows, ordinary people remain eager to purchase fireflies. That’s because these luminous creatures are perceived as very romantic gifts. For instance, on the popular online shopping platform Taobao you can purchase live fireflies (萤火虫) to enliven birthdays, engagements, anniversaries and for Qixi Festival (the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day). Some online shops offer 30 fireflies for 120 yuan (around $17.40, or 60¢ per firefly), while wholesalers sell packages of 300 live fireflies for as little as 100 yuan (20¢ per firefly). Meanwhile, back in rural areas, a typical firefly hunter earns less than 1¢ per firefly captured, notes Dr. Xinhua Fu, a firefly expert at Huazhong Agricultural University. Clearly, trafficking in live fireflies is a lucrative business."

"In China, as in most countries, fireflies currently enjoy no legal protection, so it’s difficult to halt commercial firefly harvesting. But firefly conservationists all agree on the urgent need for better educational outreach. Once people understand the fragility of their natural environment, they will want to protect it. And when people learn about the life cycle and habitat requirements of fireflies, they can begin to appreciate both their ecological and their cultural value.

The Chinese government will need to act quickly to identify and protect natural areas where fireflies thrive. Certain areas could be carefully developed into focal sites for ecotourism, encouraging people to enjoy viewing fireflies in their natural habitat. Firefly ecotourism also offers an alternative to collecting, as it provides long-term, sustainable economic benefits for local villagers. At the same time, research should focus on improving methods to artificially rear fireflies for use in museums and educational exhibits."

Asia

Malaysia

Riverbank Development Threatens Malaysia’s Congregating Firefly Habitats "Malaysia is one of the few South-east Asian countries blessed with the presence of congregating fireflies along its rivers. These fireflies often congregate on ‘display trees’ along both sides of the mangrove-lined intertidal river and even up to 100 meters inland from the riverbank where they breed. The synchronous fireflies, one of the more well known amongst the congregating fireflies, is an ecotourism product which draws hundreds of tourists annually to the Kampung Kuantan area in Selangor thus contributing to the local and State economy.

The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) recently embarked on a six-month study to survey and document the current status of congregating firefly habitats in Peninsular Malaysia, a first of its kind here. MNS hopes that the results of this study will help to highlight the urgent need to improve river conservation to the Federal and State Government and agencies. This study is funded by the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.

Preliminary findings suggest that there are still many intact mangrove-lined rivers in Pahang, Terengganu, Perak and Johor that support healthy congregating firefly populations. However, their populations have been reduced to a single or two localities in the States of Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Penang respectively. Most of the rivers in Negeri Sembilan and Melaka have been cleared and bunded, thus eliminating the congregating fireflies’ habitats.

Through the course of these surveys, it was evident that congregating firefly habitats continue to be threatened primarily by riverbank clearing, strong light source and river pollution. Riverbank vegetation is often cleared and bunds erected to establish aquaculture (shrimp) farms and agriculture e.g. oil palm plantations. Unregulated dumping of chemicals used in these activities often end up into the rivers. Light pollution along the rivers in the form of spotlights from the aquaculture farms, fish farms, sand mining dredges, ports and factories creates additional negative impacts. These activities threaten the congregating fireflies’ life cycle and survival.

“There are official records of 52 congregating firefly sites in Peninsular Malaysia of which 20 major rivers and tributaries have been surveyed to date and currently threatened by riverbank development as they are not protected. Of the remaining 32 rivers, some have been destroyed. The Sungai Linggi-Rembau firefly watching area is one such recent example,” says Sonny Wong, Senior Conservation Officer.

More disturbingly, healthy rivers that support congregating fireflies in the states mentioned above are also not spared as they face the possible threat in the form of flood mitigation measures. Although these projects have good intentions, they have affected several congregating firefly rivers previously such as Sungai Linggi-Rembau, Sungai Sedili Kecil, Sungai Johor and parts of Sungai Perak amongst others.

Thus, MNS would like to call upon the Federal and State Governments and its agencies to protect the remaining rivers that support congregating fireflies and re-examine its methods used in executing flood mitigation projects. The conservation of these rivers is not only important for the fireflies by also play crucial ecological functions. Furthermore, the presence of the fireflies in these rivers harbours ecotourism potentials. MNS hopes to present its final findings in due time to the relevant Federal and State Government agencies seek better solution(s) to conserve our congregating fireflies and its habitats.

It would be a national tragedy if the lights go out from these congregating fireflies in Peninsular Malaysia in the near future."

Solutions

Petition Against Activities That Harm Fireflies & Their Habitats

This level 4 action can help signal to politicians that we do care about the environment, and help convince them to help protect our ecosystems.

International

Become an advocate for “Dark Skies” policies to control light pollution in your area.

Asia

China

• Ban the Commercial Harvesting of Wild Fireflies in the U.S. and China 

Europe

• Save Biodiversity in Europe. Stop Wildlife Extinction in EU (petition)

North America

Mexico

• Mexico: Protect Sensitive Forests in Enchanted Tlaxcala Forests  (petition)

USA

• Ban the Commercial Harvesting of Wild Fireflies in the U.S. and China  (petition)

• Petition to Ban Leaf Blowers in Boston  (petition)

Ways to Attract Fireflies

The Wet Bag Trick

1. Don’t rake leaves and put them on the curb. You are raking up firefly larvae and throwing them away.

2. Collect bags of leaves to make “Bag Compost”. Collect 5-15 bags.

3. Wet bags down in a shady lawn area. Keep moist/wet for 3-6 months or up to a year.

4. Bags will attract snails/slugs. This is food for growing fireflies.

5. In Spring, put bag compost in your garden. Put it in mounds and till it into your soil.

6. Repeat each year. It might take as long as 5 years, or as quick as that same year, to get fireflies in your garden.

Additional

Common Names from Around the World

English: The names of the fireflies

What we call fireflies or glow worms in English have different names in other languages:

• In Portuguese they are known as pirilampo.

• In French: ver luisant, and the species that shine during the flight: pike.

• In Spanish, people call them luciérnagas or gusanos de luz

• In German, they are called Glühwürmchen or Johanniskäfer.

• In Dutch, glimworm or vuurvliegje.

• In Swedish and Norwegian, sankthansorm or ildflye.

• In Finnish, kiiltomato.'

• In Hindi, they are jugnu.

Español: "Los nombres de las luciérnagas

Lo que en español se llaman luciérnagas o gusanos de luz recibe distintos nombres en otros idiomas:

• En portugués son conocidas como pirilampo.

• En francés responden al nombre de ver luisant, y las especies que brillan durante el vuelo, lucioles.

• En inglés como glow-worms, o con el genérico fire-flies, que designa a todas las especies de luciérnagas.

• En alemán, se llaman Glühwürmchen o Johanniskäfer.

• En neerlandés u holandés, glimworm o vuurvliegje.

• En sueco y noruego, sankthansorm o ildflye.

• En filandés, kiiltomato." - https://www.gusanosdeluz.com/luciernagas/los-nombres-de-las-luciernagas/

• Scientific Literature "... a list of scientific and popular firefly literature (over 2200 citations), concerning firefly taxonomy, ecology, biochemistry, and so much more. This list is periodically updated."

• The Selangor Declaration – Conservation of Fireflies (PDF) "Participants from 13 countries met at the Second International Firefly Symposium in Selangor, Malaysia from 2nd to 5th August 2010. They included experts in the fields of taxonomy, genetics, biology, behavior, ecology and conservation of fireflies as well as members of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, corporations and the public. The theme of the symposium was ‘Firefly Conservation: From Science to Practice.’ The following declaration was made in conjunction with the symposium at the Third International Firefly Research Network Meeting on 5th August 2010 and updated by the same body on the 25th November 2014."
  
  After 4 years, in 2014, during the 4th International Firefly Symposium, the Selangor Declaration was relooked again. It was discussed, amended, agreed by the participants and updated"

• World Firefly Day includes yearly date, a video, and interactive map of Fire Fly Day events.

Maps

• Mass Audubon Firefly Watch "Join a network of citizen scientists around the country by observing fireflies in your own backyard, and help scientists map fireflies! Report your sightings, then share your photos here." This map covers North and Central America including Iceland

• Swiss glow worm survey, 2001 "People have seen Lampyris noctiluca higher than 2000 metres in the Alps on the sunny sides of the mountains). This map shows the regions where French or Italian is spoken, because our survey was only launched in the French area of our country (the few spots in the centre and south are in the Italian-spoken ‘Canton du Tessin’ where another glow-worm species is also present).
  
  It is curious that this glow worm survey is in fact a map of the residential houses (in sunny place, southward): Geneva, north of Lake Geneva, north of Lake Neuchatel, and touristic villages in the Alps. They are all places where people have a garden and spend a part of the night outside in the summer.
  
  We received very few observations from the agricultural zones – a surprise. But we don’t know if people there tried to look for glow worms.
  
  Yves Gonseth, director of the Swiss Centre for Fauna Cartography, is very happy with these results. Of course, they are not scientific. But he thinks that they are of value: before the survey, the centre had no idea of the status of glow worms in Switzerland. He has been surprised by the number of observations and their viability. In conclusion, glow worms are apparently everywhere in Switzerland and survive in the private gardens – a good thing. Hope it will be the same in the future...."

North America

This section includes information for Central America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the USA.

Oceana

Australia

Only 3 glow worms have been described in Australia, but there are 25 known firefly species.

"Unlike ground-dwelling, luminescent glowworms, adult fireflies are winged. They flit around all continents bar Antarctica, preferring warm and wet wooded habitats. In Australia, fireflies inhabit the forests and mangroves along the coast of New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory." - https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2014/10/12/lightning-bugs-natures-flash-dancers/

When fire ripped through Kangaroo Valley, it took out a substantial number of Blue Mountain fire flies, Dr Ballantyne told The New Daily.

Now that population is gone and the area will have to be “re-invaded” by the species, Dr Ballantyne said, but there’s no guarantees that will work.

This particular population was only discovered a couple of years ago, and was in a bushy corner on someone’s private property. That’s where you’ll find most fireflies dwelling in Australia, Dr Ballantyne said.

Not a lot of people are aware the country has fireflies, let alone two dozen different species, because they’re not in places commonly seen by the public.

“They only live in areas where there’s moist undergrowth,” Dr. Ballantyne said. And most of those areas – dense scrubland, rainforests, mangroves and national parks – tend to be inaccessible by the everyday person.

Mostly, you’ll find them in Australia’s top end and down the east coastline, she said. Occasionally, you’ll be lucky to spot a couple in a suburban backyard in Brisbane’s outer pockets.

Because of their inaccessibility, it’s relatively hard to measure Australia’s firefly population.

In other countries, such as parts of Asia and the US, there are tourism promotions built around firefly season, Dr Ballantyne said. Ironically, some of these ventures are contributing to habitat loss, which is decimating populations.

Whereas in the US, scientists can use a range of factors to pinpoint exactly when the beetles will be firing, Australia’s unpredictable seasons mean that’s just not possible.

The life cycle of a firefly spans about two years, the majority of that spent as a caterpillar. There’s only about three weeks of a firefly’s life when they’re actually a ‘fire’ fly. It’s usually in summer, but just when that is will depend on the previous two years of rainfall, Dr Ballantyne said.

While our fireflies’ lives depend precariously on our climate and environment, we don’t have the added two factors that plague other countries’ populations, at least not to the same degree.

In East Asia and Southern America, artificial light at night – illuminated billboards, street lights and the general glow from ever-expanding cities – is competing with and suppressing male fireflies’ natural instinct to glow and attract females.

An increased use of pesticides on agricultural land was the third identified global factor pushing down the population."

Informations en Français

Pollution lumineuse et bioluminescence

"La pollution lumineuse est un phénomène que l’on associe à l’utilisation des éclairages artificiels. C’est la conséquence d’un développement de l’urbanisation et des activités humaines. Il y a pollution lumineuse lorsque la lumière artificielle propagée dans le ciel la nuit est supérieure à 10% de la luminosité naturelle nocturne.

D’un point de vue écologique, la pollution lumineuse modifie la composante nocturne de l’environnement et donc impacte les comportements et rythmes biologiques des organismes vivants et des écosystèmes.

L’exposition à une source de lumière artificielle peut entraîner une réponse répulsive, autrement dit les individus s’éloignent de la source de lumière (perception accrue du risque d’être chassé par un prédateur, déplacements et recherche de nourritures limités). Au contraire, chez les insectes nocturnes et les oiseaux migrateurs, organismes qui utilisent la lumière des astres pour se déplacer dans l’obscurité, l’exposition à la pollution lumineuse entraîne une réponse attractive, autrement dit les individus s’approchent de la source de lumière.

Les espèces bioluminescentes, c’est-à-dire les espèces capables de produire et d’émettre leur propre lumière, sont particulièrement concernées, à l’image des lucioles et des vers luisants qui utilisent des signaux lumineux pour attirer leurs partenaires (reproduction altérée)." - http://www.asterella.eu/NEOKIPOS/pollution_et_bioluminescence.php?pays=FRANCE&p=

Outils 

• Les missions spéciales de l'Observatoire des Vers Luisants "Une petite balade de 200 à 300 m près de chez vous, environ une heure après le coucher du soleil, par temps clair, durant laquelle vous comptez les vers luisants de part et d'autre du chemin à l'aller et au retour. C'est peu pour vous, mais beaucoup pour nous ! Nous vous préparerons un itinéraire approprié et une fiche de mission, qu'il vous suffira de nous retourner complétée par mail."

• L'observatoire des vers luisants et des lucioles "Avez-vous déjà vu des vers luisants ou des lucioles ?" "Vous n'avez jamais vu de ver luisant? S'il-vous-plaît, remplissez quand même ce formulaire. Il est important de disposer d'un nombre suffisant de jardins sans ver luisant pour comparer."