I have participated in No Mow May for three years now. I also have a spot in the yard I let be free (weeded it for invasives) for the same amount of time.
This summer, for the first time since I have lived here, exsists an abundance of fireflys in my yard. They are everywhere, in a way I’ve never seen since I was a child.
No Mow May, (even if just a part of your yard) gives insects a place. Bugs live in the leaves and natural debris, by keeping it undisturbed, from fall to winter is important for many bugs’ survival.
If you like bugs, consider dedicating space in your yard for them to live. Don’t keep grass in the typical american perfect lawn way. I suggest not to spray, and look at native grasses and plants first when seeking your landscaping needs.
I’ve noticed a real difference this year in my yard. Maybe its some coincidence, I don’t know. Either way I’m happy to see lightning bugs again
I moved to Minnesota in the early 2000s and was blown away by all of the fireflies. It was magical. I’ll never forget snuggling up with someone and watching the fireflies during a thunder storm.
The decline was unbelievably rapid. The last 6 years I was there I’d maybe see one or two the whole summer. If that.
It’s so sad because they’re truly wondrous creatures.
They got Roundup
Fight this by not bagging your leaves. Leave some for our buddies! https://blog.nwf.org/2024/09/leave-the-leaves-to-save-fireflies/
Leaf* some
Used to catch them growing up. There would be thousands of them periodically blinking in the yard and across the field every night. It was pretty and serene.
I saw one just the other night when I let my dogs out before going to bed. It was so surprising that I had to wait a minute and verify I wasn’t just seeing things. It was a real life lightning bug. It was a happy sad moment.
I can’t remember when I last saw fireflies. They used to be quite common 25 years ago when I was a kid. Damn, time flies and I’m getting old. And fire apparently doesn’t fly any more.
Damn, fireflies too?
Firefly == lightning bug
Stop raking your leaves
Oh yeah? What next, don’t mow my lawn every day?
Next you’re gonna say that my excessive pesticide use harms the insects I like
Y’all have trees?
You can get them fresh from the factory. Sure, they need 96 batteries each, but beats all that nasty wood and bugs.
It’s easier just to buy my air from O’Hare Air.
My kid saw bottled oxygen at a sporting goods store and said it was dumb. Then he asked if we could buy it. $20!!! For a 25(?) oz bottle.
Yes and I planted some of em :3
Upon further investigation, it appears that only SOME species of fireflies are at risk of extinction. Others are so common they are of “least concern”.
If foreign propaganda bots are bombarding us with doomer memes to instill apathy and depression in the younger generation, this fits.
Maybe, but I haven’t seen one in decades in our area. Used to see them every summer. I’ve thought about that for a while, even before this.
leave them leaves unraked
Or create leaf mold (a pile of sticks and leaves) in targeted areas of your yard/property that are ideal for breeding fireflies and other desired native insects/spiders. Especially if you live in an HOA community that requires reqular raking and can hide the leaves under bushes/shrubs/trees/garden beds as mulch.
Raking of leaves isn’t really the problem so much as is the complete removal of leaves from the property & neighborhood (which also removes the nutrients from the local top soil).
complete removal of leaves from the property & neighborhood (which also removes the nutrients from the local top soil).
See also: folks who insist on collecting all grass clipping when they mow. It’s free fertilizer that helps save some water. Some folks care too much about a golf course lawn that they fail to realize the obvious benefits to slight adjustments to their practices
Same here, but if I drive a few miles out of the city, they’re out and about.
Just to be sure, have you lived at the same address for all these years? I haven’t, so it’s hard to compare then & now for me.
I haven’t lived at the same address but I now live in a small enough town I’ve seen deer, turkeys and bald eagles from my yard, but I grew up in the suburbs where a raccoon was the wildest thing I ever saw
I think they’re more common in the suburbs
Is this the most meta depression bot?
Over the weekend I saw an incredible display of the blue Ghost Firefly right up in my face while camping in Pisgah. What a thing. I have been reforming my entire yard to facilitate insects. This year I did have a significant amount of fireflies compared to years past. Things can change and get better. They might not, but we might as well try for good.
Fireflies are fascinating and beautiful creatures. Another user mentioned donating to xerces society which is a great idea. Another thing that you can do if you are fortunate enough to own land is to replace your lawn (non-native, mowed grass) with native plants and leave the fallen leaves undisturbed.
I replaced my entire lawn with species native to my region and my entire yard is currently covered in multiple species of fireflies. It’s so magical to see all the different colors and flashing patterns. Mind you, I live in the city so it’s only my yard that is really providing for them. All my neighbors’ yards have either no fireflies or a few.
You don’t have to replace your entire lawn like I did. Just setting aside some space for our wildlife neighbors is better than nothing. Remember plants are the foundation of almost every food web. For me, it’s magical to go outside and see the new blooms and growth, look for new creatures that show up, and just walk the little paths in my small yard. In an age of ecologic collapse and climate change it gives me some sense that I can have a measurable, positive impact and that really helps me mentally.
I do not have a lawn, I have several ha of forest and grassland. I have about 25 nest boxes for wild birds, occupied 2/3 (last year I had a huge owl living in one!) and countless other nests, several snakes, snails and frogs, lynx and I see bear tracks and scats now and then. I keep bees and allow wasps to build wherever they like, there are lots of bumblebees everywhere and birds sure have something to eat. I mulch a lot and keep loads of rotting leaves. I mow with scythe when I absolutely have to clear small area. I know there are fireflies in Finland.
Never saw a single blink.
I don’t know European firefly species ranges. I’m fortunate enough to live in a region with multiple species ranges overlap. What species are in your region and what are their ranges?
Regardless, your land sounds beautiful. Thanks for being a good neighbor to the wildlife!
What a beautiful paragraph to read. Thank you for sharing
That’s really nice of you to say. Thank you for your kindness!
But have you considered that instead of fireflies, we have HOAs that will fine you if you don’t fact a perfect lawn?
You would not believe your eyes if ten fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep
I understood this reference.
Go minnesota!
TIL Owl City is from Owatonna
I saw lightening bugs for the first time in years when I moved to the east coast. I was so excited, I caught some and brought them inside to show my cat (I let them back out of course). Next year, nada. So far this year? Also nada. I even made a point to leave the leaves. 😔
I don’t even see butterflies anymore. Sad.
Plant milkweed and don’t touch your dead leaves!
I have no yard, so no can do.
Steal one, then turn it into a bug factory.
I have probably seen a total of three bees in person in the past 10 years.
Our planet is dying in front of our eyes.
How fucking depressing is it. Meanwhile, republicans are doing everything they can do fuck us over even more.
What are you doing about this? All I see is people posting complaints like you are, and massive protests being completely ignored by everyone. Republicans only respect violence, and the left doesn’t value violence so we are left looking like limp impotent removed.
But it all isn’t real because sometimes its still cold
I haven’t seen a butterfly during most of my teenage years but have seen a resurgence last few years because gardening as a hobby became huge for mothers and young adults alike.
My mother used to have a small but lushful garden when I was a child but she wasn’t able to maintain as many plants because busy and budget.
Me but with ladybugs
Now you remind me I haven’t seen a ladybug in probably more than a decade
I saw more this year than previous years. I wonder what legislation passed locally
This is kind of wild to me. This year we’re seeing more fireflies in my yard than we have in a long time. My husband and I have been commenting on it. At night there’s an awesome light show and it’s kind of awesome. Whatever is happening in my neighborhood they definitely like!
It’s likely because of the recent storms causing damp leaf and damp vegetation clutter, which is what they like to hide in during the day, where they lay eggs, and where they live.
You clearing your yard of all the leaves into non-biodegradable plastic bags into the dumpster and having an ugly as fuck monoculture grass lawn isn’t helping these insects recover from being at risk of going extinct.
Hey folks, it’s easy. Leave your leaves in the fall. It will take two years of this. The first year they’ll nest there the next they’ll hatch. I’ve been doing it for two years and have more. Especially my front yard where I’ve never seen them before.
Also, the other day I saw one in a spider web and it flashed back when I put my flashlight on it. (Which is really sad lol.) I did it a second time to check and it did it back a second time. Definitely wasn’t coincidence. So all the talk about lights on in your house absolutely is true and it probably confuses them. To the best of your ability turn off lights or at least close curtains and blinds. Definitely turn off porch lights.
They’re magical. The sounds and sights of a summer evening are truly an enchanting experience. Especially after dealing with a stupidly hot day lol.
Pasolini wrote a famous essay in 1975, “The Disappearance of the Fireflies,” which, at that time, was already starting to become very noticeable. Of course, the essay was really about capitalism.
Personally, outside my childhood in the countryside, I noticed fireflies in the outskirts of a largish city some 20 years ago, then nothing for a very long time, and then I saw a few when I lived for a brief period of time in a really remote place, like an hour from the nearest highway. No trains anywhere near, too.Off-topic, but if you don’t know Pasolini, I urge you to read his last interview which seems particularly gloomy as it appears to foreshadow his own death just a few hours after.
One memorable quote:I listen to the politicians – all the politicians – with all their little presumptions and I turn into a mad man as they prove they do not know which country they are talking about, they are as far away as the moon. And together with them there are the men of letters, the sociologists and the experts in any kind of field.
