Man I feel lucky, there are a ton of lightning bugs in my yard
this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2025
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There's so many here at the Rustbolt homestead.
It's like Lampyridae Ft. Lauderdale.
It was only a few, but, I did see some while camping this weekend.
Same, been camping twice this summer and both times I was taken aback and both seeing them (it’s become so rare), and how few there were. Used to be swarms of them in my backyard, not I go camping just to see 3 of them.
I convinced my inlaws to stop bagging or raking their leaves a few years ago, and they're everywhere now. Not as many as if the whole neighborhood has done it, but more than when I met them.
Hey folks, it's easy. Leave your leaves in the fall. It will take two years of this. The first year they'll nest there the next they'll hatch. I've been doing it for two years and have more. Especially my front yard where I've never seen them before.
Also, the other day I saw one in a spider web and it flashed back when I put my flashlight on it. (Which is really sad lol.) I did it a second time to check and it did it back a second time. Definitely wasn't coincidence. So all the talk about lights on in your house absolutely is true and it probably confuses them. To the best of your ability turn off lights or at least close curtains and blinds. Definitely turn off porch lights.
They're magical. The sounds and sights of a summer evening are truly an enchanting experience. Especially after dealing with a stupidly hot day lol.
Wikipedia says the species near me (southern Ontario) are of Least Concern for extinction:
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GUYS GUYS I CAME BACK TO THIS POST BECAUSE THERE IS A FIREFLY IN MY BEDROOM!!(I rarely see it theese days but it's here now)
thats okay. we dont need things that dont make capitalists more money.
I've seen them once in my life, in Smoky Mountains, about 10 years ago. It was pretty much spiritual experience. The darkness came alive. I cried when I saw their luciferase smeared over windshield and glowing long after the creature was dead. I knew lots of lore about them, saw them in mass culture - never realizing I never saw one myself, even though I take care to notice all living things around, from bacteria and yeast to mycchorizal networks.
I live in Europe.
Aww bless. That's where I live. My yard is still full of em at night, I've made sure of it.
Well at least we’ll still have lightning bugs, right.
This is a wild concept to me. I see hundreds if not thousands every night in the summer.
Count your blessing 20ish years is all it took for them to disappear at my parents house.
capitalism will kill us all, starting with the smallest and most defenseless
Alexa, play Owl City - Fireflies
More seriously, I'm pleased to see I'm not the only person who views this as a terrible loss.
i didnt need to be sad rn