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Lights out? Experts fear fireflies are dwindling

news.yahoo.com — Preecha Jiabyu used to take tourists on a rowboat to see the banks of the Mae Klong River aglow with thousands of fireflies. These days, all he sees are the fluorescent lights of hotels, restaurants and highway overpasses. He says he'd have to row a good two miles to see trees lit up with the magical creatures of his younger days.

Who dugg this? Made popular Aug 31, 2008

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  • sneezy555, on 08/30/2008, -0/+33Hmm, I did notice there were a lot fewer fireflies this summer, that's just disappointing.
  • inactive, on 08/31/2008, -0/+29It is sad to see these wonderful bugs disappearing. I remember chasing them as a kid.
  • inactive, on 08/31/2008, -0/+21I used to live on the East Coast and they were all over. Catching Fireflies was more fun than any game console back then!
  • thetron, on 08/31/2008, -0/+19Were the fireflies canceled by an Fox Executive too?
  • thegamingguy, on 08/31/2008, -1/+14Wow, I noticed it too, but just now that it has been pointed out.
  • inactive, on 08/31/2008, -3/+15Where I live (In Maryland) We call them Lightening Bugs. And they are not dwindling. They are conserving their energy until after the election is over.
  • gbarberi, on 08/31/2008, -1/+13Add NYC (outer boroughs). When I was growing up, you could see a lot of them everywhere you turned during the summer. For the past few years, I've barely seen one.
  • AmyVernon, on 08/31/2008, -0/+9Yeah, I'd noticed, too. I figured I was just remembering wrong. :-(
  • shreela, on 08/31/2008, -0/+9Growing up, we used to see them a lot in the field behind our house. Now I live next-door to the same field, but it's rare to see a firefly. There seems to be more mosquitoes though.
  • groo68, on 08/31/2008, -0/+9You're the one responsible!
  • UNL1M1T3D, on 08/31/2008, -0/+8We call them lightening bugs in Michigan too.
  • cap11235, on 08/31/2008, -0/+8Come to Nevada. The fields here have REAL radioactive waste on them.
  • MatthewK, on 08/31/2008, -0/+8Fire flies and butterflies are the only flies I actually like.. ;(

    Why couldn't this happen to household flies, gnats, and mosquitoes?!?
  • santaliqueur, on 08/31/2008, -0/+7Why the hate for Thailand? I don't even get it.
  • Skooma714, on 08/31/2008, -0/+6I've never seen a firefly.
  • DeFex, on 08/31/2008, -2/+7keep having brats. keep driving that SUV keep flushing random chemicals down the drain. everything will be FINE!
  • UNL1M1T3D, on 08/31/2008, -0/+4This makes me sad. Nothing like a walk down a dirt road on a warm summer night surrounded by the glow of fire flies.
  • Iztikeit, on 08/31/2008, -1/+5That is wholly untrue. Cockroaches will outlive anything domesticated.
  • Scaryclouds, on 08/31/2008, -0/+4Dugg for the ***** truth
  • pendrachken, on 08/31/2008, -0/+4Wow, in Wisconsin we actually had an overabundance this year. A local entomologist was interviewed in the paper and said it was due to all the rain we got last year ( and that next year will be good for them as well because of the rain we got this year). Too bad we can't ship them some.

    The only downside to all the pretty lightning bugs was the glowing windshield when driving at night. Well, that and buying all the washer fluid to clean them off...
  • Lith25, on 08/31/2008, -0/+4/random. Lightening Bugs in Alabama too
  • UNL1M1T3D, on 08/31/2008, -0/+3Your missing out. When they are in huge patches they are really pretty cool.
  • palehorse864, on 08/31/2008, -0/+3North Carolina and South Carolina, called them lightning bugs too.
  • brewyet, on 08/31/2008, -0/+3I can tell you why all the fireflies are not around in Louisiana. They spray for mosquitoes and that also kills the fireflies. If you are in an area where they spray alot you will not see any, and if yo end up in a more rural area they are all over the place.
  • MillionsLivio, on 08/31/2008, -0/+3Lighting bugs, butterflies, and bees all seem to be damn near nonexistent as of late, in such a short period of time as well. Something is up and this seriously needs to be given attention before there are greater repercussions.
  • Nrvana423, on 08/31/2008, -2/+4I remember chasing them as a kid....with a whiffle ball bat, swatting as many as I could so it would glow in the dark.
  • UNL1M1T3D, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2We still have a good amount over in Marine City too.

    Oh and Nosyn if you have a Facebook go into my profile and add the I Digg Michigan group.
  • Spikito, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2I was so waiting for someone to reference that
  • OfNumbers, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2I know this might offend some of you, but everything that isn't domesticated is endangered. Stay the course!
  • inactive, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2Back then.
  • inactive, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2Used to have a lot in Illinois growing up. I saw barely any this summer.
  • Nosyn, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2Well, surprisingly I've seen the most fireflies in a long time around my place (Oxford, MI) this summer...
  • Niallgriff, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2Anarchists will outlive Republicans too....

    wait, that's a good thing...
  • zeropoint51, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2I've noticed this for at least the last 5 years in PA. When I was a child the yards were filled with lightning bugs in the summer. Now you see barely a tiny fraction of what once was.
  • slvrbullet87, on 08/31/2008, -1/+3come to illinois... it looked like the fields had radioactive waste on them this summer
  • ATLien74, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2I've been noticing the firefly population dwindling for a good 8-10 years now. When I was little they were EVERYWHERE. You couldn't look any direction and not see a hundred of them, but now you really have to look for a minute just to see one. It must be a worldwide phenomenon because I live in GA. That's sad, they are the coolest bugs.
  • Import98, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2In the beginning of summer (June till about mid-July) there were tons in my backyard. I even told the wife that there were an awful lot of fireflies this year and she agreed. Then about mid-July I started seeing less and less, when August hit there were very few. ***** I remember 20 years ago when I was a kid I used to see tons in the backyard. It's a shame b/c they're like one of the few insects I don't mind.
  • ChayD, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2Lucky Americans with your glowing insects *humph*

    Edit: Oh apparently we have glowing insect in England, too, but where?
  • ALaughingMan, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1I don't know what's a normal amount to see but when i was in Ohio this summer, I saw thousands of them everywhere.
  • Heracles, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1I live most of the year in the northeastern part of Thailand, very rural. There are hardly any lights on in our village after nine pm, and at night it is very dark -- great for watching the stars and fireflies, both of which are in abundance. I'd hate to see the fireflies disappear, it's quite a magical sight.
  • Iztikeit, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1I once lived in a fairly rural area and when I traveled back for a visit earlier this summer there were virtually none where there once had been thousands. I am sure this will help the mosquito somehow.
  • JustinPM, on 09/01/2008, -0/+1When I lived in New York there was a certain time of year when cicadas would just be friggin' everywhere, hanging out in trees and such. One of the more cruel things to do was to wait for someone to walk under one of those trees and then bum rush the tree dropping hundreds of cicadas on the helpless individual. Ah, the folly of youth.
  • Smeed, on 08/31/2008, -1/+2My favorite part was smashing them and getting the glowing goo on your hand. I think I led the firefly genocide... Sorry guys!
  • Lewie, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1Yeah, I think I'm partly to blame, too. I found out that if you smack them (with reasonable force) they fall to the ground and keep glowing.
  • virtualball, on 08/31/2008, -1/+2Maybe we're just getting older? :(
  • MillionsLivio, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1I've lived in Ohio all my life and there were barely any this summer in comparison to five years ago. I used to walk my dog at night and they would be everywhere, now I just see a few single ones flying about.
  • swedishvolvo, on 09/01/2008, -0/+1Yep I remember my mother sending me out with a clear glass jar to see how many I could catch in the warm summer nights here in Georgia. I think I saw about 5 total this year, very depressing. My kids won't be able to have these happy summer memories as I have. The world is a changing place, I hope this is just a phase. It seems like everything after 2001 has sucked for mainly America but also the world.
  • GrZod, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1The locals in Thailand will tell you, it is because of ants. You can look at the trees to confirm the cause, I did, I believe it is ants. The older folks will say it happens in cycles and not to worry. I just don't like to see folks over reacting to something that is far from a constant, (localized insect populations), and has a logical and provable cause.
  • pak314, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1Could this be due to cell phone radiation? Pesticides?

  • TheMachine1, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1Definitely see fewer and I walk at night time everyday. There is this swampy wooded area I walk (in Texas) and see them so I assume they do not like living in devoplved areas or where land has been drained.
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