Lassannn
22935
666
7
Jun 27, 2026 3:22 AM
Lassannn
22935
666
7
ghostofGracchusBabeuf
They need darkness to reproduce. Turn your lights out at night. Reduce light pollution
AllTheGoodOnesWereGone
“Never hurt no one” except they simulate the blink patterns of other firefly species in order to attract horny males of that species who they then murder and eat.
aoshistark
Aaand we're making it nearly impossible for them to live. It makes me so very sad. The magic of the world is slowly dying. :(
zFUBARz
Don't worry, it'll come back.. I mean we'll be long dead, but the magic will find a way eventually.
malachilenomade
Hey @Lassannn
cousteau
I was fearing nobody would honor the tradition.
Centroid
Very pleased to see lots of these guys in my yard this year.
CaveCanem
I'm 7 years old and I have just the jar to put this thing in so I can enjoy it forever
FatBastardVegetarian
I had a lightshow during the gloaming on the family farm last night. Hundreds of 'em.
FatBastardVegetarian
We call them "Lightning Bugs".
SuicidalBallsack
love you lassannn!
ahorseelbowdeepinme
Hey, happy belated birthday!
SuicidalBallsack
ty ty!
VagrantKoba
Nah, my favourite is dragonflies. They always make me feel safer
TheFastpaws
And like so many creatures we are killing them all off. We could do something but we'd rather let billionaires exist.
TheElderTrolls3Morrowind
Oh fuck yeah!
ShimmerinStrider
Hell yeah! Love me some fireflies.
TheRicM
'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
Oblok
I also like that they eat snails and slugs in their larval stage. :)
nethsmith
I would go with Ol'bright asses
NotyouGuillermo
So they really? That's amazing!
keyserv
Hey! What did snails or slugs ever do to you?!
BeaverOnFire
That snail will kill me, once it gets out of that salt filled sphere I left it in.
Euclid11010
Snails aren't as bad, but slugs are basically living nightmare boogers. They destroy plants, leave slime trails everywhere, and in late spring early summer they are EVERYWHERE if you live in the woods. Not much eats them, and they're just disgusting. From a more objective standpoint, some species can in fact be ecologically beneficial, however many of the more common ones can be quite destructive.
.... Also, a slug once bit my sister.
dracklen
They can really go to town on plants that you work hard to cultivate. Lightning bugs are kinda awesome!
DrKonrad
Fireflies will also always be the saddest insect for me
FireSolvesProblems
This is the one Ghibli movie I refuse to watch. I know it's great but I know my limits.
unluckyandbored
If the insects die, we all die. And the insects are dying.
Holinyx05
Used to see them all the time. Now, I haven't seen one in years.
Chaapai
I've never seen one in real life. At 56 I always kinda felt they were more myth than reality. But I'm from Washington and Colorado. Not places they are found. I'd love to see them for myself.
johnblood616
They will soon be all gone.
UltraLincoln
If you like fireflies get lazy with your lawn! Taller grass helps them grow and thrive. Heck, I've kept a patch of grass around 2 feet high just so they have a nice place to grow.
I like seeing life in my yard more than a boring knockoff golf course lawn
cousteau
OK, so that t in utmost is clearly edited in… what did it say before?
PorneliusHubertII
I was on the highway doing 80 when all of the sudden I had a glowing green spec. I felt real bad for hitting the 1 light big I have seen in the last 5 years.
Roqinn
We are also losing them because people are keeping their lawns so short.
DaOutlaw
They produce an enzyme called luciferase that acts on another compound called luciferin to produce the light.
ahorseelbowdeepinme
lgkinasen
MOST heinous.
NonPoliticalChimpanzee
Big fan, but my greatest bug, besides my family, are dragon flies. They eat gnats and mosquitoes and are generally really cool
r0b0tc0rpse
and when they splat on my windshield at night it glows...
cousteau
That's neat but kinda sad at the same time.
r0b0tc0rpse
It's not like I try to hit them.
cousteau
Yeah I mean sad for the fireflies. Poor fireflies :(
TheGaryBuseyOf4nal
Ladybugs have entered the chat
shitheadtookmyname
They're also a teenage French superhero. Based.
QueenOfTheFey
Miraculous even, simply the best
shitheadtookmyname
SPOTS ON
QueenOfTheFey
CLAWS OUT
Laurifish
Ladybugs bite and lightning bugs smell. But I still love them both!
wejustdontknow
I've held countless ladybugs in my hands and never had any bite me.
Laurifish
Ok, but they can bite. I’ve held tons of them over my lifetime and have only been bitten once, and it’s just a quick, sharp pinch. But they def can bite people.
FiftyShadesOfTiramisu
Yeah, they release a smelly substance instead when they feel threatened. They only bite aphids and other pests.
Laurifish
They can bite people as well, they just usually don’t. It’s just a quick pinch, but they def bite.
Chattafaukup
and of course we are making them extinct
apneax3n0n
a giant ass Monster? the sooner the better
UltraLincoln
Mow your lawn less often. I let my grass go 2 weeks between trims and we have a crazy amount of fireflies.
They need higher grass and leaf litter to thrive.
Iwouldbenick
We live in a big city but our house has 40 acres of untouched nature behind us. Everyone in the neighborhood cherishes that land. The fireflies love to frequent our several hummingbird feeders and often found in the bat roosts.
bobgunrunnersmith
Sad how few I see flying about. So many people want a manicured putting green for a yard.
ErniesWidow
Also, Light pollution
FiftyShadesOfTiramisu
No idea why anyone would downvote you. That's indeed a huge factor in case of nocturnal insects. Moths have also seen drastic population declines.
ErniesWidow
I live in Florida, and the artificial lights have also been disorienting the sea turtle hatchlings trying to get to the Gulf. https://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/sea-turtles/threats/artificial-lighting/ http">g/">https://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/sea-turtles/threats/artificial-lighting/ https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/for-insects-that-glow-artificial-light-is-killing-the-vibe I don't understand the downvotes, either.
FacelessAce
In my experience, If you don't have a manicured petting green, you're getting a call from the city and a fine. Of course, that's only if you live in the city.
FiftyShadesOfTiramisu
Even in protected nature reserves, there has been a 76% decline in flying insect biomass within less thanm 30 years according to one German study. Those aren't monocultures and insecticides barely have an impact there. The main culprit, aside from habitat loss/fragmentation, is climate change.
IHaveGreatKittenRecipes
Can confirm, got flagged twice in three days by two different departments of the city who both managed to forget how to read English. I've got a fukin fence and sign up around my native pollinator garden (weeds patch) that is *explicitly* allowed by city and county code. But they stuck the little flag down anyway so I get to call them and remind them of their own laws.
fractalsphere
But do you call them fireflies or lightning bugs?
Ceardah
June-bugs
ShimmerinStrider
Both in my area
Shelby82
Świetlik ("little light thing" in Polish)
CardeasIV
we got very simmilar - světluška - except the word is in lady gender
Willste
Yes
LateNightBunnyParty
Yes
nyamcat
Glowing worm (im German)
buttcreambandit
I say fireflies but most people here say lightningbugs
PickleRiiiiiiiiiiiiick
Buttlights.
SorcPlays
Yes!
SailorPupitar
Depends on if you like hugs or not
KMakyra
I'm from Michigan and I can tell you the correct name is both.
JohnStork
Světlušky
TerminalGear
THUNDERFLIES.
SackTheRipper
Sparklebutts.
gomezsys
Sparky bum bugs.
KyleZombie
Thunderbug! https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1czB1ZDVhZXBkcDN4YWF1empoNnI3dGJwZmtjdHYyaXA3a2RvaG8zNiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/lsozfjz9sc0MOrxSlP/200w.webp
johnblood616
Lightning bugs when I was a kid. Lately I been calling them "blink bugs" to my cat
OliverClothesoff70
WickedddK
Glühwürmchen = Glowwormies in Germany
mrsdowneyjr
Do you have a different word for glow worms?
WickedddK
Had to look that one up. Wikipedia doesn't have a German page for glow-worms. After some quick search it seems we call them Neuseeland-Glühwürmchen. So New Zeeland - Glow-worm(ies).
Dybidude5
It has. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuchtk%C3%A4fer
SecondSince
glowy bois
Atomic2
FIREBUGS
OneOfTheEnemiesWithin
Lightening flies!!!
Atomic2
Honestly, FIREBUGS and LIGHTNING FLIES go way harder than either fireflies or lightning bugs
Rips4w
Lightning Fire!!!
RevolutionOnHerLips
Lightning bugs, tho where I grew up we knew they were also called fireflies.
zHurk777
Lightning bug is more accurate.
BarryTheCyborg
Yes
baloogarus
Lampyridae
afterdarkart
Growing up in Vermont it was both.
brattysubsam
Third option:
You’ve heard of fireflies
You’ve heard of lightning bugs
But have you heard of lantern flies?
brattysubsam
Guys, I swear I heard someone call fireflies “lantern flies” before.
I forgot they were also that really invasive pest
Sorry
astrangehop
I thought that was an invasive non glowy one
LateNightBunnyParty
They already have those. They're not these.
ThereAreChameleonsEverywhereProbably
Lantern flies are different
mrsdowneyjr
Ironically, non lantern-y
astrangehop
I drink soda, go to yard sales, and drive on a rotary. Take your best guess.
AtleastIvegotthatgoingforme0
Oregon?
astrangehop
Maine
AtleastIvegotthatgoingforme0
Soda threw me off.
Elonth
Look once fireflies became a platinium song This debate was over. FIrelfies won. The're even getting their fox show back!
zHurk777
That last bit confirms that it should be Lightning Bugs.
MajorasTerribleFate
It's not a debate, its regional dialect. "Pop" is an objectively stupid thing to call soda/cola/coke, but I'm not saying it lost. It belongs in the Midwest, and it's perhaps 20% of the reason I've never been there.
Badprenup
Pop is objectively a much smarter thing to call soda than cola or coke, unless the soda in question actually IS a cola or Coke. At least "pop" came from the old general term for the entire group of beverages: soda pop.
Dumb southern motherfuckers probably call all cars Fords and and every fast food place McDonald's or some shit.
bfmama
I'm not good at expressing myself, but you put my thoughts into words perfectly! Thanks!
HillOfBeans
In Germany, all cereal is “cornflakes”.
2graves
What if it's not made from corn