This is why we don't have fireflys anymore. They were everywhere growing up. They lay eggs on the bottoms of fallen leaves. HOA's demand you rake your leaves. This kills the firefly.
That's easy to say but anyone with a lawn is typically bound by local ordinances. I don't even live in a particularly nice area and I got a warning citation for some cool looking thistle I decided to let grow this year.
As kid in Virginia in the 60s Summer evenings were magical - Lightening Bug galore. Then mosquito spraying began. The mosquitos remained - Lightening Bugs not so much:(
Nice to see that "swatting with badminton rackets" isn't endangering them enough to make the article. As someone who was raised in a firefly-dense rural area, let me tell you, the thrill of the bioluminescent sparks is the closest I got to cocaine as a kid.
A city or town with no haze or light pollution? Where is that magical place?
While traveling even in rural parts of less-developed countries, there was a glow in the sky from nearby cities. When opening the curtains the sky was brighter than my room in the middle of the night!
Seasonal reminder: many insect species need the shelter of fallen leaves now and until springtime.
Modern lawn-care practices amount to devastating habitat loss. You can learn more about good choices for your area from your local county extension office.
If your office has been defunded, you can also try your friendly neighborhood public librarian.
But if you let the fallen leaves sit on your lawn all winter they are a matted wet mess in the spring and they kill your lawn. I blow mine to wooded areas at the edges of my property
That’s just revealing how strange and unnatural lawns are. I switched to low-growing native plants and have been very happy with almost zero maintenance.
DO NOT RAKE YOUR LAWNS.
This is why we don't have fireflys anymore. They were everywhere growing up. They lay eggs on the bottoms of fallen leaves. HOA's demand you rake your leaves. This kills the firefly.
That's easy to say but anyone with a lawn is typically bound by local ordinances. I don't even live in a particularly nice area and I got a warning citation for some cool looking thistle I decided to let grow this year.
> I got a warning citation for some cool looking thistle
What the hell is this dystopia really.. oh American suburbs
As kid in Virginia in the 60s Summer evenings were magical - Lightening Bug galore. Then mosquito spraying began. The mosquitos remained - Lightening Bugs not so much:(
Or even a kid in the 90s and 2000s. The lightning bugs are mostly gone.
My kids think it's a big deal when they see one, and we live in a rural area with very little spraying happening.
Still have them galore up north where I am. Had at least a couple thousand last summer one night -- it was very cool.
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Nice to see that "swatting with badminton rackets" isn't endangering them enough to make the article. As someone who was raised in a firefly-dense rural area, let me tell you, the thrill of the bioluminescent sparks is the closest I got to cocaine as a kid.
I was born in and spent most of my life in the bay area before moving to Kansas City over 10 years ago (long story).
Seeing fireflies for the first time, in my 30s, was (and still is) magical.
They have blue ones in North Carolina! Fascinating.
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In this rural area the closest kids get to cocaine is methamphetamine.
First we lost the stars in the sky now we lost the stars on Earth
Where I live the stars are still there but the fireflies are gone. Such a shame.
A city or town with no haze or light pollution? Where is that magical place?
While traveling even in rural parts of less-developed countries, there was a glow in the sky from nearby cities. When opening the curtains the sky was brighter than my room in the middle of the night!
We’re always losing things, eg carrier pigeons.
It's depressing to imagine people a couple decades from now spending their entire lives inside concrete jungles (as some already do now)
seeing only manufactured wonders, with no longing for what's beyond
I have too many hobbies and not nearly enough time or space, but I’ve always been interested in raising glowworms at some point.
This channel has some fairly unique practical information on raising them (and some other things as well) for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/@PeppersnGlowworms/playlists
My knee-jerk reaction to this was, "sigh, more extinct species" - however, "lost species" in this context, as I learned from this paper, means:
> Herein, we define ‘lost species’ as those with no confirmed observation record within the past decade.
Confirmed from another source [0], which attempts to formalize the language (not that long ago!).
[0] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/lost-bu...
Seasonal reminder: many insect species need the shelter of fallen leaves now and until springtime.
Modern lawn-care practices amount to devastating habitat loss. You can learn more about good choices for your area from your local county extension office.
If your office has been defunded, you can also try your friendly neighborhood public librarian.
But if you let the fallen leaves sit on your lawn all winter they are a matted wet mess in the spring and they kill your lawn. I blow mine to wooded areas at the edges of my property
That’s just revealing how strange and unnatural lawns are. I switched to low-growing native plants and have been very happy with almost zero maintenance.
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And mosquito city during the fall here in Texas
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