Lights out for Fireflies?

Yeah, yeah, like you have posted before, you have lived here 25 years, and Americans are the worst. I'm still waiting to hear what lovely country you are from, and why after 25 years of apparent misery have passed, that you still remain here.

"No one is jealous of your way of life" I would have to say your wrong, I live in France and that is the main place people here talk about going to live, so I am not sure where you live but I can bet it's in a Muslim anti American cave!

How much energy was used so you can spew your liberal B.S. on-line? Please just go away! Stop breeding! Move! You are polluting the Internet! Go get drilled!

Go get DRILLED! You are using too many natural resources by breathing! Go Away!

Yup. I agree. Any they wonder why Florida has droughts. Keep cutting down them trees and laying cement! The trees help make the rain come. When they are all gone, it will be just like New York, just like they want.

Please dont worry about what they are saying . you are correct . they are the shelfish pigs that are helping to destroy the earth for all living things

Bigdawg... Still trying to figure out what a "shelfish pig" is, maybe that is some sort of sea life I haven't heard of before. Could it be a fish with a shell on it's head with a flat nose like a pig? Maybe we killed them all with our big trucks too and that's why I have never heard of such a sea beast!

That's hilarious. Americans doing all the polluting. hardy har har. Hasn't anyone stepped outside their little shells to even watch any minutes of the China held Olympics? China is in it's peak of Industrial Revolution. They put out 15 times more air pollution than all industrial nations put together, ever have.

They have over fished the "WORLDS" population of fish than all countries in history, put together. There is 25% more mercury in the water than any shore around North America. Even coming out of the spouts of the very pollution makers in the U.S..

America is so full to the top with pollution control... It is sickening. I think everyone who is jealous of U.S. needs to step outside their shell and take a handful of dirt and eat it. if you drop dead then you will know that there is pollution in it. If not. Thank whoever you worship that you don't live in China.

Proud is correct. While the USA represents a fourth of the world's populations, we consume and waste more of the Earth's living physical body than anyone; however, China is catching up.

Wake up, folks, when the fireflies and amphibians, an entire class of life, disappears forever, you might start contemplating who might be next because no issue is as vital to all life on Earth and civilization as the salvation and protection of Earth's ecosystems, man's oxygen, water and life factories, all the reasons Earth supports all life and is a life-gifting planet.

Frogs and fireflies are scientifically, biodiversity/biological diversity and biodiversity, altogether with soil and water and all native animals and plants, functioning as one living unit or organism are an ecosystem, are the veritable living body of Earth.

Currently, Bush is attempting to gut the ESA, the strongest law America has that saves and protects America's ecosystems and biodiversity.

My parents and sisters are in Ohio, and we visited them last month. While I was able to catch lightening bugs with my 3-year old nephew (we catch-and-release), I did notice there were far less. Just assumed that there was not enough rain this year, but I wonder. Maybe it is the spraying for bugs - June bugs, silly things, especially. There were more than enough Japanese beetles, good grief.
Catching lightening bugs was a very popular thing when I was little. My grandma let me catch a Mason jar full when I was about 7 or 8, and then read by their light that night at her house (poor things, some were alive the next day to release). Something magical about looking across a field at night and seeing the twinkling of fireflies, like stars.

I live in VT and this year was a year I remarked about, I would guess, 4X as many as usual, perhaps there are cycles, as for anyone in Asia posting about our gas guzzling killing insects, your back yard hosts china, and also, Thailand still uses some potent chemicals, and yes, I have been there, and yes, for more than a month.
Maybe they all moved to tolerant VT.

I live in Indiana and I was thinking the same thoughts you have. I caught lightning bugs and junebugs as a kid, but now that I am retired I realize I have not seen either this summer. None.

It isn't just one thing that is causing unprecedented extinction worldwide. The Earth's biogeochemistry and their global cycles are changing. This would include the nitrogen and carbon cycles upon which humans depend for life. Science is profoundly worried about the health of Earth and the continuity of all life. Science believes Earth's has lost the ability to store carbon, and some ecosystems are melting into the seas, and plants in CA are climbing mountains to escape the heat.

Each foot of ecosystem that turns into a housing tract, parking lot, convenience store or city is, essentially dead planet and heat islands. Man is killing the face and body of Earth with concrete, bricks, asphalt, European lawns and dead forest products. Man is transporting alien, non-native species and ornamental plants to the four corners of Earth, and these introduced, invasive species are about as life-giving as concrete. Only native species are the job-holders and role-players of ecosystems

Ecosystems cool the immediate and regional climates that impact global climate with transpiration. When the leaves of native plants transpire water vapor from their leaves that are involved in the global hydrological system, the energy the plants use for this transpiration cools the immediate climate. The thicker and denser the native plants in an ecosystem, the cooler the immediate and regional climates and more and more clouds and rain also cool the climate. Clouds reflect the sun's heat. Deforestation opens the sky and lets in stronger and more heat. Deforestation turns more and more of Earth into a desert planet.

Every foot of deforested and killed ecosystem is one more foot of dead planet, as life-giving as Mars. The extinction of native animals like fireflies and frogs pushes Earth closer to extinction. Any agent that kills biodiversity, kills ecosystems and any agent that kills ecosystems, kills EArth.

I live in Milwaukee and have never seen as many fireflies as I have seen this year. It's amazing.

Interesting... you see more of them in Wisconsin, and someone from Michigan said they've been increasing there too. Someone from Florida says they haven't seen any in a long time, and same with Arizona. Maybe they are just following the weather.

I LOVE leopard frogs! We used to try to catch them too, but let them go after we admired them. Good point about the sun, I'd swear it was stronger also.

Well, I am not an old fart but I have tracked the weather for about 15 years now as a hobby and have found that the hurricanes that used to develop off the African coast are starting to develop about 3000 miles closer to the States. So far this year only one has come off the coast of Africa, I am no "weather man" but it would seem the water temperature is cooler along the coast the it has been, I think nature is trying to balance things out and is having a hard time keeping up with the rest of us. I have noticed a lack of honey bees too.

OLD FART,
I haven't seen a leopard frog in a while, I did look in the marsh across the street, more peepers though. no large bulls, I haven't been looking for frogs much these days....our pond drained last year so I know where our trout went, right into the raccoons, and hawks, I was impressed at the abundance of birds, but we just had a 5 year tent Caterpillar cycle, so now I can get a ripe blueberry unless I net them over....birds just to fast. I guess in VT its still somewhat nice, I wish the deer would go somewhere else.

Dear Graham,
From one old fart to another (53)---I can't even believe people are discussing this as if they're not really sure if there's a problem! I grew up (60s) in Arkansas and then Florida and now am in Key Largo, Fl---THE LIGHTENING BUGS AIN'T THERE, FOLKS! And they were huge when I was a kid--huge and all summer long.

Yes, it's the canary in the mine foretelling us of ominous destruction.

But what the hell, Americans still want to focus on silly stuff and keep voting in (mostly) Republicans who could care less about the majority of us (if that's not evident you ain't payin' attention)...

Rome is burning and too many still only want to know if Brittany Spears panties are on or off!

We all get the government we deserve.

Heay old, I am an oldie but goody too. I am a native San Diegan. San Diego is nothing like my youth. Our coastal ecosystems here are chaparral, coastal sage scrub [chaparral] and oak woodland. I remember standing under a thousand year old oak tree at 6, my blood coursing fast with pure rapture and my heart -- thrilled outta my chest. The old oaks massive branches swept up into the sky and spread out and brushed the ground, making a perfect hideaway. I thought to myself, this is the perfect playhouse. I stood their listening to the leaves sway in the wind and listened to the silence, the serenity, the peace of it all. They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot -- says it all. A golf course took my thousand year old oak.

I remember rolling the window of our car down, sticking my head out the window and smelling the sweet fragrant air of my youth and all the sages and chaparral smelled as if Grandma had opened her spice chest. God, did it feel good to be alive. Now, the air smells like gasoline.

Old, do you remember what the sky used to look like. At night it was so black and so clear; you could actually see stars. As a child, I lived on the edge of an ecosystem. One night, my dad walked my friend home and ran into a cougar! I am so glad I wasn't young without wild and free country to be young in. I remember my trips into the elfin forest/ecosystem as a child. Then I would go to a landscaped park with jungle gyms and thought, "Boy this is boring. NOthing like my elfin forest. The elfin forest was the real Adventure Land, all the Disneyland without the plastic. The most alive!

I had a youth surrounded by beauty and wildness, and I would not have traded it for all the money on Earth. Today, I am still an avid wildlife fancier and reptile-lover. And, I still thrill to the sight of an oak tree, and wild things and places still send me into ecstasy overload! Paradise is no more. Also, gone for eternity, this kind of childhood.

Heay, thanks Old Fart, your post conjured up my childhood and fading memories of Paradise. I got a little ecstasy overload sharing this with you. Walk in Beauty, and thank you.

On, you don't get it. You're in -- way over your head. We are discussing here, pure science and the natural laws that govern all life on Earth. This isn't just about global warming; everything on Earth is changing: biogeochemistry and their cycles are changing...mass extinctions worldwide, ice fields melting into the seas. Do a little extrapolating and put all these neo-events altogether. Worldwide food & water shortages. Many scientists believe man no longer has historic levels of oxygen available and that Earth can no longer store carbon and that each day, Earth grows more like Mars.

Now, remember those pics on Mars? See any trees, wildflowers, pollinators, insectivores, birds, frogs, fireflys? Why not -- because Mars supports no life. And has little oxygen and is primarily CO2. You are alive right now and have oxygen to breathe because of ecosystems and native trees and animals/biodiversity.

Quite listening to propaganda and brainwashing and do your own research. Then, you too, will get the big picture.

Thank you, Jan. I am confident you brought many happy smiles today to many people because of your beautiful story about fireflys. Did you know that the father of ecology was first a forest ranger, then a college professor [UW] and wrote what eco-literates refer to as the greatest book ever written? I am sure your son will read his material and will know of him.

Your son is very fortunate. My favorite animals are all wild. I am so envious of your son. I would like to be young again and trade in my life for his. He will live and work in the Garden of Eden, paradise and be surrounded by Almighty Creation. Envy, envy, envy. Walk in Beauty, Jan.

It's Bush's fault. He has a special team that does nothing but catch lightning bugs and then he trades them for oil! He's made millions doing this while our economy goes down the toilet. Cheney started it all when he found out that not only could he trade them for oil, but the absence of lightning bugs causes people to buy bigger vehicles which use more gas, which, well, you know. The Daily Kos says that there is even a special TOP SECRET dept. in the CIA. They are going after ladybugs next as they can be traded for coal...

I hope he trades ALL of those damned orange bugs they call ladybugs these days. Haven't seen the old red ones in a few years. These new ones completely infest the houses around here, they smell awful, and as an added bonus, they bite!

The orange ones are the Asian lady beetles, I understand, and apparently can pinch. The red ones I buy from the nursery, and set free - pretty and useful. Not sure why they introduced the other variety, but have sure heard complaints.

As a responsible Republican I would like to take this opportunity to blame the demise of fireflies on Bush. After all it is the national pastime and as Gustave heads for the levies of Louisiana it is my hope that while all eyes are on the demise of the firefly no one will notice and blame Bush for New Orleans once again.

MS, you don't have to worry none about Bush. Several years ago, he grabbed the title of the most rapacious Earth killer and Earth hater in U.S. history. His healthy forest act gave claim for his rich pals to ravage and waste more and more of this nations's ecosystems, like the Sequoia Nat'l Forest, and his neo Clean Air Law weakened clean air standards so more and more of American's children can die from asthma.

I wouldn't worry about Bush; he is about to go down in history on all issues and all fronts as the worst president of all time.

Russell, there is a vast difference between natural selection and unnatural, man driven extinctions. So many extinctions are occurring worldwide, that natural selection has stopped. It is all because mankind is paving the face and body of Earth with hot, hot concrete.

Deforestation kills the living body of Earth. Where are your oxygen and fresh water factories, under hot hot cities [heat islands]. Can a parking lot or shopping mall balance the gaseous composition of the atmosphere, synonymous with all life? Or stabilize the climate or create and renew soil or sink carbon or support agriculture or check and balance the populations of pests that consume ecosystems and agriculture. Or cycle nitrogen and carbon. Or re-cycle death and decay into new life/decomposition. Or check and balance the populations of pathogens in the food chain with man that cause global pandemics and are capable of wiping out 85 to 95 percent of all mankind?

Mankind is slathering the living body of Earth over with concrete, and concrete is dead, made of dead planet and cannot perform all of the preceding life-gifting systems.

As a matter of fact, after doing some quick research, the luciferin enzyme that makes fireflies glow IS used in food testing. Bacteria and other living organisms in food produce a chemical that makes the stuff light up, so they can use it to see if produce is contaminated. They can also produce luciferin from bacteria though, so while some of it comes from fireflies I'm not sure that's why the bugs are so scarce all of a sudden.

My old boss from Iowa said that people in one of the towns there, out in the sticks, would collect fireflies and get 1 penny for 2 bugs-they would collect as many as they could. They were used for their florescent "behinds" - but why, can't remember. This was almost 20 years ago.

my comment is on fire flys we have lots in Barbados, not sure whay type they are but they are very pretty to watch..

I grew up in the country in northcentral WV, miles from the nearest town, and I've seen them getting scarcer and scarcer over the past few years. I'm on the outskirts of Morgantown now and saw maybe half a dozen all summer. Wierd.