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Freeze, then a drought, dims fireflies

By CHARLES SEABROOK
For the Journal-Constitution

Published on: 07/29/07

While lamenting the lack of hummingbirds in my yard this summer, I've noticed an even greater scarcity — of fireflies.

"Lightning bugs" are icons of a summer evening in the South, but I've seen very few of them in my Decatur neighborhood so far this year.

the same thing at her home near Athens.

"Southeastern fireflies are having a difficult year," she says. "I estimate that I've had only about a tenth of the normal firefly population this summer."

The firefly season, she notes, began auspiciously in mid-March, with substantial numbers of them flying about during the warm nights of early spring.

"For two or three weeks, we enjoyed impressive light shows as fireflies flew on evenings when temperatures were above 50 degrees," she says.

Then came the unusual hard freeze in early April, which eliminated nearly all the fireflies that had already emerged.

"For a couple of weeks we did not see a single firefly until the last week of April, when low numbers showed up," Hinkle says.

Then, the drought set in. Firefly numbers have stayed very low since then.

"Fireflies like humid conditions, and the drought has been pretty stressful on the entire population," Hinkle says.

Fireflies, she says, are soft-bodied beetles (not real flies) and can easily dry out in prolonged droughts.

Low humidity also prevents them from flying or being active, so we "don't see them out performing their light displays," Hinkle adds.

Unfortunately, that also means they have not been able to find mates and reproduce this summer.

So this year's drought may affect next year's firefly populations as well.

"It may be several years before numbers rebound to their earlier levels," Hinkle says.

Drought, however, may be only one of the reasons for dwindling firefly numbers.

Fireflies prefer living in meadows, fields or wetland borders.

But as more and more of that land is scraped clean of vegetation and covered with asphalt and concrete and roofs, firefly habitat is disappearing.

"Human development is pushing fireflies out of their habitats," Hinkle says. "Every new shopping mall or housing development kills off more fireflies."

And once the insects are pushed out of an area, it might be years before they return — if they ever do.

Researchers also say that fireflies may be victims of light pollution.

Streetlights, store signs and the nightly metropolitan glow may interfere with a lightning bug's ability to attract a mate, they say.

Hinkle points out that the male firefly flits about in the air as he tries to attract a female on the ground with his blinking "light."

If the female takes a liking to him, she blinks back her acceptance.

The night-flying insects have light-producing organs at the rear of their abdomens.

Within these structures, two chemicals combine to produce light in a process that's virtually 100 percent energy efficient, so no heat is generated. The resulting light may be greenish, orange or yellow.

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