This time of year, as the sun has set and darkness takes over the landscape, a magical thing begins to happen across the lawns and fields throughout rural Pennsylvania: fireflies appear!
Each summer, as they begin to show up dancing about in the night sky, I quickly flashback to my childhood days growing up in the Lycoming County countryside. I recollect that they were much more abundant then. There were so many of them that my brother and I would often gather dozens of them in an old mason jar and keep them for several days, watching them begin to light up as darkness fell. We would add a handful of grass clippings to the bottom of the jar, thinking that would make them more comfortable in their new surroundings, and pierce multiple holes in the jar lid so they would have fresh air! We would watch them for a few days, then after dark one evening, we would open the jar and enjoy seeing them fly away as they returned to “the wild.” We were told that they emitted their flashing light to attract mosquitoes, which they fed on throughout the night! Many years later, we discovered the true reason for the flashing light, along with several other interesting facts about these amazing insects.
Fireflies, also known as “lightning bugs” or “glowworms,” are a soft-shelled beetle classified as Lampyridea, of which there are actually over 2,200 species found all over the world, with approximately 165 species documented in the United States and Canada. Multiple species exist throughout Pennsylvania; amazingly, each species has its own flash pattern. (Good luck in determining different patterns in the ones you observe! While I am blessed with great vision, I have never been able to distinguish any difference in the patterns I have watched. Perhaps it is because I am watching only one species of firefly).
Unfortunately, fireflies do not prey on mosquitoes! Instead, the flashing light that they emit is used to attract a mate. Fireflies need tall grasses to attract their potential mates, trees (native pine trees are the preferred tree) to deposit their eggs, moisture, and rotting wood to attract prey, and darkness to put on their great light show. If you have all of these factors in one place, your lightning bug population should grow over time. The life cycle of fireflies is tied very closely to the weather. Their larvae live underground during the winter, mature in the spring, and then emerge in early summer, anywhere from the third week in May through the third week of June. The fireflies we see flying about have a life span of 61 days, so the chance to observe them can continue through August.
Fireflies and their larvae help control garden pests by preying on snails, slugs, cutworms, and aphids. Some adult fireflies (the ones we see flying about) don’t eat at all, but some eat nectar or pollen and are often attracted to asters, coneflowers, and goldenrods. They do not bite, and they are not toxic. Also, they do not carry diseases like some other backyard insects. Like many insects, they spend most of their life cycle as larvae, hiding in the leaf litter or underground during the daylight hours and crawling about looking for prey at night. Occasionally, you might see their soft glow on the ground in moist areas after dark, thus giving rise to them being referred to as “glowworms.”
Boone, North Carolina, is considered to be the firefly capital of the world! As such, it hosts numerous firefly festivals throughout the year. But you do not have to travel to North Carolina to enjoy the festivities since fireflies are also the focus of a celebration here in Pennsylvania! The Pennsylvania Firefly Festival is held annually in Tionesta, Forest County, at the Kellettville Firefly Farm on Route 666. The 15-acre private property is dedicated to the preservation of firefly habitat. You must apply to the PA Firefly Festival lottery and be selected in order to register for the event. Attendance on Friday and Saturday nights is limited to 50 people each night. For more information, contact them at (814) 230-2035 or pafireflyfestival@gmail.com.
