How to Save Fireflies: 4 elements to a firefly success story

Picture of a firefly on a green plant

When is the last time you saw fireflies?

Fireflies in Florida and around the world have declined significantly because of development and light pollution.

Almost 1/3 of firefly species in the US and Canada are at risk of extinction.

They overwinter in unmowed ground cover, so I wouldn’t have expected to see any in the sterile environment of my apartment complex, especially since management recently replaced all the parking lot lights with bulbs that are about 10 times brighter.

Photo of a firefly on a hand

Seeing this firefly on my building was a lovely reminder of the resilience of nature. Fireflies are surviving, BUT they aren’t thriving, and they need our help. Read on for a few things you can do to help.

“Everyone can play a role. Whether it’s protecting habitat, assisting with research through community science programs, students deciding to research fireflies or getting folks excited about identification, there are a lot of different ways this can play out.”


Candace Fallon (conservation biologist)

Light

Fireflies need to be able to find each other to reproduce and make more baby fireflies, but they can’t do that if it’s too bright. Finding ways to reduce your light pollution at night should be a priority—closing the blinds, turning off outside lights, etc.

Infographic about how to attract fireflies for homeowners

Landscaping

If you have an outdoor space, then you can help fireflies by leaving debris/leaf litter untouched in parts of your yard/garden, reducing/eliminating your pesticide use, and choosing native plants in your landscaping. Many of these practices will also help provide a good habitat to butterflies and other native pollinators!

Community action

If you’re an apartment-dweller like me, you can support organizations like Xerces Society. If you’re science-minded, you can even join the Firefly Atlas project to help observe these threatened species, as I plan to do next spring here in Central Florida. You can also advocate for your apartment complex to follow some of the land-use guidelines below.

Picture of a firefly on a green plant

Legislating for fireflies

Finally, our actions are important as individuals, consumers, and community members, but those are just one component of producing positive change. Most conservation success stories involve some level of government action, which is why it’s so important to use our voices to advocate for legislation in some of the following ways:

  • Vote! This is arguably the most important thing you can do for sustainability. Elect officials who prioritize environmental issues or who will potentially be open to addressing these issues. We need sweeping climate action that comes from the top.
  • Vote again! Make sure you’re participating in your state and local elections, too!
  • Find out who your elected officials are (click here to find your Florida lawmakers), and contact them to let them know that you as a constituent believe they should be prioritizing this issue.
  • Attend a peaceful protest. Fridays for Future is a worldwide movement of climate protests. Check their website to see if there are any events taking place near you soon.
  • Get involved in local politics and see if your county offers any services to teach residents how to participate. The best place to start is probably your city or county’s website.
  • Along that line, join a local advisory board to ensure that your local government is taking the health of its environment seriously. As my old county’s website states, doing this will provide “the opportunity to help guide the County government’s decision-making process.”
A photo of a blonde girl holding up a firefly on her finger in front of her face

Additional resources

If you’d like to learn more about fireflies, here are a few of the resources on my radar!

Articles

Videos

Books

I recommend borrowing books from a library or purchasing secondhand through Better World Books when possible, but if you need to buy new, ordering through bookshop.org will support independent bookstores!

Make sure you comment with any suggestions if you know of any other good resources!

Silhouette of a firefly on a tall blade of grass with a sunset in the background

Save the fireflies

We can create positive change so that our night skies are once again filled with the pulsing glow of our firefly friends!

“If you’re going to value the diversity of life on earth, it’s not just valuing lions or tigers or bears. Fireflies are, of course, dazzling beetles, but they’re also kind of a gateway bug for raising awareness about the need to conserve biodiversity and particularly the importance of insects.” 


Sara Lewis (a professor at Tufts University and a co-chair of the IUCN firefly group)

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