lightning bugs?

[hiss srq]

Strange question for everyone. (What else is new) What has happened to all the lightning bugs? I remember as a kid there used to be tons of them on Long Island. Is it me or are there less or just none at all? I have not seen them in years and this year coming home to New York I expected to see plenty to no avail. Either that or my mother was putting some real funky stuff in my juice cups as a kid.

[emshighway]

It's like the bees

A sign of the end of the earth...

[adam613]

I saw a whole bunch of them over the summer...

[T-Bird76]

This summer I didn't see all to many but last summer and the summer before there were tons of them. But I agree I remember years ago my entire backyard would be filled with them. Isn't it funny how we hate most bugs and we'd be ticked off if a swam of bugs invaded our backyards, but the lightning bugs get a free pass. lol

[cancidas]

i remember seeing them in my backyard, but that was earlier in the summer. could have been as early as july.

[RDU-JFK]

Are lightning bugs the same things as fireflies?

[Alex T]

Are lightning bugs the same things as fireflies?

Yes, it depends where you are to call them that.

Here in the midwest I have heard them reffered to as fireflies.

But in more dense areas, cities I have heard them called as Lightning Bugs.

Both are one and the same.

Alex

[Matt Molnar]

I noticed a sharp decrease of lightning bugs and butterflies that seemed to coincide with the hysteria about West Nile virus a few years ago and the ridiculous spraying that went along with it. This past summer they seem to be coming back a bit but still not as many as the old days.

[wunaladreamin]

All the butterflies went to the beach. I was at Jones Beach 2 weekends ago and it was SWARMED.

[PhilDernerJr]

The year of West Nile and the spraying certainly killed a lot of the insect world int he area. The year after, I don't think I knew anyone that had a mosquito bite at all. It killed EVERYTHING.

I saw a LOT of butterflies this year, but didn't notice fireflies.

[Tom_Turner]

All the butterflies went to the beach. I was at Jones Beach 2 weekends ago and it was SWARMED.

Insects... don't generally care for them, but of the ones I tend to notice......

The last waves of the Monarch Migration is still in process along the coasts...

Cicadas had a *big* year I thought considering none of the major broods was scheduled for this year....

Happy to see wild honey bees the last half of the summer; they were conspicuous in their absence earlier this summer.

Didn't see a single Praying Mantis this year, but I imagine they are around. Walking Sticks and Luna Moths are two examples I have not seen in a number of years.....

Yes, the West Nile spraying took out a lot of wildlife... the Crow and Blue Jay population on SI took a real dive after that... coincidence?

Tom

[T-Bird76]

All the butterflies went to the beach. I was at Jones Beach 2 weekends ago and it was SWARMED.

Didn't see a single Praying Mantis this year, but I imagine they are around. Walking Sticks and Luna Moths are two examples I have not seen in a number of years.....
Tom

Come to my backyard Tom, I have tons of them. I'm not a fan of bugs but Mantis's are just cool.

[flyboy 28]

Every year we've always had a lot of lightning bugs. This year though, I've only seen a few on only a few evenings. Rather depressing.

[heeshung]

I can't remember that far back into the summer about the abundance of fireflies, but I can confirm the butterfly sightings. I wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for this thread, but I can attest to seeing a couple more butterflies that normal in the past few weeks that were mostly Monarchs.

[lijk604]

Urban sprawl has a lot to do with the decrease in butterflies as well.

As for the lightning bugs, I saw a few this summer but nothing like when I was a kid.