Firefly Mystery

While waiting for Gustav to arrive I was reading online and came across this article that caught my eye. It's all about the decline of the firefly. The reason it caught my eye is because this is something I have noticed for several years now so I feel sort of vindicated by this article in that now I know I was not simply losing my mind. Fireflies are, in fact, declining.

I can remember clearly when I was a kid catching fireflies. It was a rite of summer. As dusk settles on a humid summer day the lightening bugs would start to light up in the shrubs and shadows of the evening. As it got a little darker they would increase. We'd all run inside for empty mayonnaise jars, poke holes in the lid with a steak knife, and capture fireflies. The article suggests several reasons for their decline but none of them include kids with jars.

A few years ago while sitting on my deck one evening, I noticed that I had no fireflies. In fact, had NEVER had fireflies here and I live in practically the same neighborhood as my mother who had lots of fireflies. So, brilliant entomologist that I am, I went to her house, caught some, and imported them to my backyard. Where they died. Or flew home. I tried this several times before I gave up.

In Iowa, at Steve's sister's house, THAT'S where all the fireflies have gone. They are all in Sheryl's backyard. Hundreds of thousands of them. Is it the cooler climate? Is it the lack of humidity? Global warming!? I don't know. All I know is that I rather miss the fireflies. And I miss kids running around with glass jars and steak knives, stopping the hearts of safety police everywhere, trying to catch them.

(Photo credit: NationalGeographic.com)