Magical Fireflies

Fire in the Western Sky - Captiva Island, Florida, February 2025

The humid evening air is warm and gentle on my skin. The last of the golden light overhead fades to darkness under the trees. It’s summer in the 1970’s in a small Maryland town, and I’m with my family - mom, dad, grandma, and my aunt, walking to my great-grandparents’ home just up the street. My grandpa drove, not because he had to, just because he could. Across a large lawn, tucked under some low-growing trees and against a lush hedge, my grandma points out little flickers of light. I run over (no fences keeping me out) to see, floating all around me, tiny lanterns that glow bright, go dark, and light up again. Fireflies, or lightning bugs. They are elusive, delicate, and mesmerizing. I am entranced. 

Fireflies are actually a type of beetle. Their on-again, off-again glimmer is the result of bioluminescence, caused by chemicals in the tail-end of their bodies (called the lantern) that create light. This luminescence can be used to attract mates or to ward off potential predators. Some savvy females even use their light to snare unwary males from different firefly groups in order to devour them. The firefly’s largest meals however, are consumed in the larval stage after hatching from the egg (in July or August), in which they eat their fill of soft-bodied invertebrates such as slugs, worms and snails. They snug down into the ground or under tree bark in order to survive the winter. 

I haven’t yet seen fireflies in Colorado, and assumed they only existed in more humid climates. But fireflies can be found here, near areas of fresh water such as creeks, rivers, lakes and hot springs. They can be best seen at night after 9pm in forests, meadows and fields near these water sources. Unfortunately, firefly populations are threatened due to loss of habitat, pesticide use, and light pollution which confuses mating fireflies. 

Since 2017, researchers at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colorado, have been rearing and studying fireflies in order to understand more, and with the end goal to help boost the firefly population. This is painstaking work - so far just a few fireflies have been successfully raised. Recently, one female went through the entire life cycle - she hatched at the Butterfly Pavilion, and went through each successive stage through adulthood, when she herself laid eggs. 

There are ways to get involved: you can become a community scientist to help track firefly populations in Colorado or you can take a firefly tour. And ways to protect: support land conservation and habitat restoration, don’t capture fireflies, and turn off outdoor lights in wetland areas June through August.

I hope to someday take an evening walk near a wetland area and catch a glimpse of the magical fireflies once again. 


Sources/Learn More

• The Butterfly Pavilion: Firefly Lifecycle Project
• The Butterfly Pavilion: Colorado Firefly Watch
• Colorado Gardner: Fireflies and the allure of light