by Adriana Pérez / © 2024 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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For many who grew up east of the Mississippi River, yellow twinkling lights punctuate magical childhood memories. New England natives call them fireflies, but they’re known as lightning bugs from the Midwest to the South. No matter their regional name, they are a staple of warm summer evenings.
Yet concerns about how many more generations will be able to bask in the glow of this nostalgic phenomenon have emerged in recent decades as anecdotal reports and observations in certain locations seemingly indicate firefly numbers are dwindling.
A study published last [June] suggests that human-made climate change may pose [a] greater threat than previously thought. The study also predicts that, while numbers might decline for most species with specific habitat needs, certain areas of the country such as the Midwest might experience population growth of some common firefly species as average temperatures become warmer.
“[W]eather and climate appear to be … the most important variables for predicting firefly abundance and firefly population status across the eastern United States,” said Darin McNeil, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of ecology at the University of Kentucky.
Lighting up the world
Over 2,200 species of fireflies live across every continent in the world except Antarctica. The United States is home to approximately 165 known species.
Flashing fireflies are more common across the eastern United States. Other species in the western part of the country don’t light up at night, like daytime dark fireflies, or don’t fly, like glowworms.
The common eastern firefly is the most populous east of the Mississippi. It’s also known as the Big Dipper, nicknamed not after the twinkling constellation but because of its flight pattern, which seems to trace the shape of the letter J as it lights up.
“By and large, the Big Dipper is going to be the one—that’s the firefly people think of when you talk about fireflies. It’s out at dusk. It can be in really urban areas, agricultural areas, more natural areas,” said Candace Fallon, a biologist at the Xerces Society.
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