# Now It's The Fireflys.....



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I think most of us in our youth gathered fireflys(lightning bugs in the South) to put in a Ball/Mason jar to sit beside our beds....it certainly is a ritual here in the South and I remember fondly doing it at grandmas and grandpas....my sons did it and I hope to be sharing it before too much longer with grandchildren.

When I ran across this it made me realize that hey, I have not seen near as many fireflys as I did just a couple of years ago. Well, I expect that many could care less, but I for one, would miss seeing them in the cool of the evening when everything gets kind of relaxed.

Regards, Mike

http://www.firefly.org/why-are-fireflies-disappearing.html


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

I find this timely.
A couple of weeks ago I made the trip to Illinois, and along the way saw fireflys for the first time in years. My wife actually asked me to pull over and get a picture of them for her, which I did. She had stayed home and I was on the four lane outside of Dubuque, IA. I took a few pictures and sent them to her. 
If any of you happened to drive by some idiot taking pictures in the dark, alongside the road, it was me.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

This is interesting. I've noticed probably twice as many fireflies as previous years. Our yards are just alive with them at night. I'll try to snag some pictures of them tonight. Do you suppose they are kinda migrating more north?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

There has been alot of fireflies here the last few weeks,as many as ever.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Well maybe they all went to Mn.I see Stack has them also^^^^^^


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

They must be freeloaders. A lot of freeloaders migrate to MN. They will probably vote a few times in November too.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

There's more hereabouts this year than I can remember in recent years but only 10% of what I remember from 60 years ago. Back then, there was a science study that paid something like a dollar/hundred. My cousins and I would collect mason jars full. Take us maybe 3-4 hours to earn a couple of daollar, but $1/hour was big money.

Ralph


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Starting to see a come-back around here too. Loads of 'em when I was growin' up, then didn't see any for several years. Shore hope they thrive back to the populations they once was.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I recall back in the early nineties I took some horses to Greencastle, Indiana to a sale. I left for home right after the sale and somewhere between Greencastle and Louisville, out in the country, I ran through the most spectacular firefly show I have ever seen. They were out in fields on both sides of the road by the millions....many, many millions. It truly was a sight to behold. I guess it was the peak of their breeding season and conditions were perfect and that particular area had a extraordinary population. I can still vividly see the soft green light that was hovering in the area. My oldest son liked for me to tell him about what I had witnessed over and over again when he was very young.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Mike, I have noticed around here as well that there aren't nearly as many fireflies(or as I grew up hearing them called lightning bugs) as there was when I was younger.....only about 18-19 years ago. I remember you used to could sit out on our patio just after dusk on still nights in June and July and literally the whole sky would be filled with the flickering lights of the lightning bugs. I have hardly seen any this year.....in fact just a few weeks ago I was mentioning this to a neighbor. Maybe it's a regional decline in certain parts of the country?


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I don't ever remember seeing any as a kid. Saw my first one when I was a senior in HS. Now they're all over. Some nights you see more than others.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

stack em up said:


> This is interesting. I've noticed probably twice as many fireflies as previous years. Our yards are just alive with them at night. I'll try to snag some pictures of them tonight. Do you suppose they are kinda migrating more north?


Same here, lot more than the last few years. I think with the extremely wet years we had the mosquitos probably sucked the lightning bugs dry.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Lightning bugs plentiful in liberal northeast.
BTW: congrats Vol!
I think you're the first HT member over 10,000 posts!


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

Also caught lightning bugs here as a kid. Still see plenty now here in Ohio.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

Still have lightening bugs here, but I don't seem like as many. Ain't heard a whippoorwill in years either...they used to sing me to sleep (on a good night) or keep me awake for hours if I was restless.

73, Mark


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Anyone have screech owls? 
I don't even need an alarm clock. The dang things start going at it at about 5am.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Now that you all mention it, I haven't heard whippoorwills, screech owls, hoot owls, or bob white's in a long, long time. Didn't notice it until this thread.

Ralph


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

This has nothing to do with the actual flying insect but........if any of you happen to go to Panama City Florida, there is a restaurant there named FireFly......it is world class cuisine. You owe it to yourself, just remember your pocketbook.

In so far as the insect goes.....last year was the first year in a long time that we have seen them in any abundance. About the same this year......for years we didn't see any at all.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Had loads of them early-mid june more than we normally have, now I haven't noticed many. We usually only get them a few nights a year

Don't let the libs know they'll be screaming that it's the results of "climate change"


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Bgriffin856 said:


> Had loads of them early-mid june more than we normally have, now I haven't noticed many. We usually only get them a few nights a year
> Don't let the libs know they'll be screaming that it's the results of "climate change"


Amen.


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## Thorim (Jan 19, 2015)

glasswrongsize said:


> Still have lightening bugs here, but I don't seem like as many. Ain't heard a whippoorwill in years either...they used to sing me to sleep (on a good night) or keep me awake for hours if I was restless.
> 
> 73, Mark


I was just thinking that myself hadn't heard a whippoorwill in ages miss the sound


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Screech owl


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