Grub killers like Grub-x kill firefly larva as collateral damage. The thing is firefly grubs eat other grubs so if you made your area nicer to fireflies you wouldn’t need the grub killer.
Around here they made a comeback in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. The reason why was they stopped spraying the forests for pine beetles. It was noticeable and now its back to nearly nothing. Its poisen. Nothing more, nothing less. The fireflies die so some undeserving investor gets more money.
Who knew that by being lazy with yard work, I was doing the right thing all along. I do see fireflies out back during the summer. I thought it was just that we live fairly close to the edge of town.
Nature is best cared for by leaving it the fuck alone.
Other than the forest fire prevention that native Americans used to perform, I would agree.
Even this can have negative impacts. More frequent, smaller forest fires allows for the “fuel” to be burned off in small quantities. If you go too long without the fuel being used, it builds up, until you get a very large forest fire. Which happened a few weeks ago (sparked by the other right conditions, of course)
Yes, occasional small forest fires are actually good for nature. Young trees csn grow, more resistant than the old wood against storms and pests. A lot in nature even relies on those cycles, pioneer weeds as an example. We really only made things more convenient for us short term with managed woods, without understanding half of it.
i thought there was a group that actually made small fires in forests for this reason. im pulling from a severe backlog in my mind so im just going to comment this and someone can tell me if im wrong or right 😂
You just described the cultural burning practices that were in place for thousands of years though.
Right, which I would say is not forest fire prevention, since they are starting forest fires. It’s more so forest fire mitigation. Perhaps that’s getting into semantics, but I thought it was a necessary clarification.
Thank you, no that makes total sense
I’m doing my part. Haven’t raked leaves in at least 20 years.
Me neither!
… Although I live in a desert and haven’t seen fireflies anywhere else in ages… Lol
Okay scientists, is this for real? Would leaving leaves out help with the fireflies, because they really are rare.
Yeah, leaving leaf coverage is great for all kinds of larvae. Leaving them alone also slows weeds from growing and as the leaves break down they fertilize the soil.
The modern problem is that there are not enough critters roaming around to naturally step on foliage to break them down.
Last year I hit my front yard with the mower on the highest setting to just crunch leaves a tad and take down the weeds a bit. I laid down red clover which I sort f regret, but it’s able to be tall enough to poke through the leaves.
Send the kids to play outside, easy
So some sort of cylinder with animal feet attached, I drag it over the yard a couple times through the fall and winter?
You win the gruesome mental image for this afternoon - nice.
Please do not kill a bunch of animals and attach their feet to a cylinder 😭
I think it depends on the species. Also, most species have non-flying females.
Are fireflies common in the US? Living in Europe, I’ve never seen any…
I see them in my backyard during the summer. It just sort of depends on the area you’re in.
European here, stopped seeing them at the end of 90s, before they were so common, even in city
I used to have a rural property that bordered on a nature preserve. There were so many fireflies you could walk through the forest on a moonless night without a flashlight.
They were when I was a kid. I haven’t seen them in a long time now though :(
Flying insects in general. When I was a kid I remember so many people’s cars being absolutely caked with dead bugs. It’s not something I see anymore.
Obviously this is anecdotal, but if I do a road trip in the summer, I have to clean off my windshield every stop for gas because it’s so bad. In the winter, definitely not.
Each summer evening, from dusk till about an hour after sunset, my yard is full of them. By late afternoon, if you look along and underside of folliage adjacent to open areas you can find them ready for the evening. They have a little dance, the steps of which aren’t followed too closely. Let’s see if I can remember it. They stay about 40 cm of the ground and fly up to about 2 meters up. After reaching the apex of their flight they flash their butts, and then proceed downward and slightly forward in a jerking stair-step pattern. The entire time flashing a repeated sequence of flashes the same color as a yellow glow stick. They so this from late spring through summer.
Depends on the area, the US is big. It’s been a while since I’ve been but some areas of Ohio had tons of them every night. I’ve never seen any in the Pacific northwest though. But even that’s a pretty broad region could be some around here I don’t know about
makes sense
I saw so many growing up in Appalachia!
I’ve seen them in the mountains or more wild areas multiple times, both in eastern and western Europe. You have to be outside during the night so most likely camping.
I’m from Switzerland and I’ve seen them here once. They weren’t flying though, only sitting next to a foot path. At first I thought they were just some green/yellow LEDs.
Awww, that’s sad! There are plenty here in the region in Italy.
ok moving to Italy right now
Extremely common here in NJ. I mean less so because exactly what this comic shows. It’s why I don’t rake leaves and leave them under the hedges. Not because I’m lazy.
See some still in Kansas. My grandparents in Wichita used to have tons of them about 35 years ago; not as many now. Right time of year you’ll still generally see 2-5 at a time in our yard.
Yeah in the warmer regions of North America and I think across the pacific as well.
Yup! I live in Pennsylvania & I see loads of them every summer.
wow I’m jelly
Only time I’ve seen them was in the suburbs around Chicago.
Same for ladybird beetles (ladybugs)! They love undisturbed autumn leaves and are natural pest control, so you should give them any opportunity possible to over-winter their eggs in your yard :)
The sprays really kill them. The fireflies will not cross into my neighbors’ lawns, where they treat their grass.
Your neighbor does what with their grass?
Spray shit on it to kill the dandelions.
When you say shit, do you mean actual shit or herbicides? One of those would be absolutely disgusting, and the other doesn’t kill dandelions, I think.
You know, I haven’t actually asked them what it is they spray. All I know is almost everyone in my neighborhood does it, then waters their lawn constantly and mows short twice per week. And like 1/3 of them burn their leaves every fall and triggers the hell out of my asthma and allergies.
Which is silly because I live in the Midwest: grass doesn’t need any help to grow here. I mow a little longer every week or two in the spring and every 2-3 weeks in the summer and my lawn looks lush with 1/3 of the effort and not pouring a bunch of crap on it. And my trimmings decay just fine without sending a plume of smoke to my neighbors.
I thought only the males lit up? Not judging, but egg laying might pose a problem.
It’s both. It’s a beautiful little call and response like system they have evolved to do. Typically the males will light up while they are flying and the females light up on the ground. There are some species that are predatory though and will mimic and use the lights to hunt the others.
skill issue
Now let’s talk about the Kentucky bluegrass lawns the leaves fall on…
