Went looking on web for more info -- learned a lot -- short version: fireflies are incredibly useful because their larvae eat all kinds of pests like slugs and snails, cutworms, mites, and pollen. AND the chemical that helps them light up cannot be reproduced in labs yet BUT it is an excellent diagnostic tool: "injection of the firefly's chemicals quickly detects energy problems in human cells (different reaction between normal and cancerous cells). This firefly technique is used to study heart disease, muscular dystrophy, urology, antibiotic testing, waste water treatment and diagnosis of hypothermia in swine." From http://www.harnett.org/coop/july2005-940.asp which also says: "Lightning bugs are beneficial in more ways than most insects. If you want fireflies, you (and your neighbors) shouldn't use insecticides on your lawn. Their populations may be declining, due in part to overuse of lawn pesticides."

just wanted to add that here in spring grove Il- the lighting bugs are still going strong. We live in a prairie type setting and the bugs are so thick that it's like watching fairy dust lights all night long.

Pennsylvania! We start seeing fireflies around the 4th of July! Yes, they do their own fireworks! We are seeing them now My puppy tries to eat them, snapping away...lately he sits and watches them. Whew...I'm happy that he'd rather watch than eat the little cuties!

www.visitpa.com/visitpa/facts.pa
The firefly is the state insect for PA!

http://www.konoctiharbor.com/articles/sfweekly.cfm

Oh yes, loveitaly saw them at Clear Lake. Do a search on this link and you will see that Miss Clark had troubles with them. So, if I were Camcraw, I would try there at Clear Lake before this month is over. Fireflies are out between May-Aug.

Good luck

Hi ladyxan, interesting article. I didn't know there were still fireflies at Clear Lake, that is interesting. Sure wouldn't want one in my mouth, ugh, lol.

What a fun thread! Yes, we do have them here in western PA. I remember as a kid putting them in a jar, after poking holes in the lid. And, we included some grass, too. Not sure why, either as their food or maybe just to spruce up the accomodations.
My husband grew up in NC and remembers them well. He made rings out of their light for his girlfriends! (Yuck..glad I didn't know him then)
I enjoyed the comments about sitting on the porch and watching them on a summer night. That's now become a memory for most. Now everyone basks inside in their air conditioning instead of enjoying the summer nights. Something so nostalgic about a hot, summer night, barefoot, running thru the grass catching lightening bugs.

I know this is an old thread, but you should have been in Gettysburg with me two summers ago. I am not exaggerating. We drove out on the battlefield one night, and there were tens of thousands of fireflies - all that and a blood red full moon. I walked out on Little Round Top alone that night and looking at all the fireflies in the fields from up there was simply haunting. There were certainly lots of fireflies in NC when I was growing up, but I had never seen anthing remotely like this. I will never forget it.

Yes, the quantity is something you don't forget.

Here it is the end of July and they were so thick in MI that we needed to wash and squigee the van's window after a short drive for dinner. It's clear that cornfields and vineyards do not crowd them out. They were like stars between the rows of grapevines for as far as you could see.