UM-Bot Posted September 2, 2008 #1 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Preecha Jiabyu used to take tourists on a rowboat to see the banks of the Mae Klong River aglow with thousands of fireflies. These days, all he sees are the fluorescent lights of hotels, restaurants and highway overpasses.He says he'd have to row a good two miles to see trees lit up with the magical creatures of his younger days. View: Full Article | Source: MSNBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosewin Posted September 2, 2008 #2 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Sadness. The same has happened here in South Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt_Ripley Posted September 2, 2008 #3 Share Posted September 2, 2008 same here. it's rare to see one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimppapa1977 Posted September 2, 2008 #4 Share Posted September 2, 2008 i didnt see one all summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR: Posted September 2, 2008 #5 Share Posted September 2, 2008 The word 'alarming' is an understatement in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incorrigible1 Posted September 2, 2008 #6 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Happy to report no noticeable decline locally. They're one of summer's marvels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGhost_and_theDarkness Posted September 2, 2008 #7 Share Posted September 2, 2008 yeah, I used to see them all the time when I was younger. Now I don't think I've seen one since then. I always thought it had something to do with the "Mosquito Control" trucks that drive around spraying everything, but I guess not. I guess its not just a local thing like I always thought, either. That's so sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Greenman Posted September 2, 2008 #8 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I haven't seen one in my neighborhood in years. I used to see lots of them when I lived in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. It really make me sad to see such wonderful creatures disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverCougar Posted September 2, 2008 #9 Share Posted September 2, 2008 haven't seen one in a dacade or so. =\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterPo Posted September 2, 2008 #10 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Didn't see much this summer. But maybe I wasn't really looking either. Can't say for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Box Posted September 2, 2008 #11 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I haven't seen one in my neighborhood in years. I used to see lots of them when I lived in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. It really make me sad to see such wonderful creatures disappear. Around where I live (in Florida also)I haven't seen them since I was really little (about 4 or 5 years old), I went camping a few months back I finally got to see a whole lot of them again that was about 2 counties north of us or so. So I am guessing that when a place becomes too populated fireflies leave to less populated places, they aren't necessarily gone just have moved on to another place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROGER Posted September 2, 2008 #12 Share Posted September 2, 2008 So I am guessing that when a place becomes too populated fireflies leave to less populated places, they aren't necessarily gone just have moved on to another place. This must be the case. I live in a town of 2'000 , a farming community. And we have plenty. And not to go to far off topic, we have a river going through town, but not many mosquito's. But we do not spray! We have lots of BROWN BAT,s that eat 300 times their weight in insects every night. You can build little houses for them for far less than the cost of spraying. And they are the most inoffensive of creatures. Nothing to FEAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGhost_and_theDarkness Posted September 2, 2008 #13 Share Posted September 2, 2008 ^ Aw, I love bats. I'm possibly the only person in the world who has ever had a bat fly into their hair and instead of screaming said "aw, how cute!" You can build houses for them? I never knew that. I'll have to try it. I absolutely adore them. I think their so useful and cute, I can't imagine why someone would think they're gross. Of course, I'm the same person that thinks every animal and bug (except cockroaches and baboons) is adorable. Blue Box: So I am guessing that when a place becomes too populated fireflies leave to less populated places, they aren't necessarily gone just have moved on to another place. I hope so. I really do miss seeing them. I have such fond memories of my childhood summers. . .laying outside in the twilight watching the fireflies come out. I'm hopefully moving out into the country pretty soon, so maybe some moved out there. My son would LOVE them. I'd hate for him to grow up never seeing one. They're such pretty little bugs. Unless you catch one and look at them up close. . .then they're pretty ugly. . .but you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incorrigible1 Posted September 2, 2008 #14 Share Posted September 2, 2008 You can build houses for them? I never knew that. I'll have to try it. Info on bat houses: http://www.batmanagement.com/Batcentral/batcentral.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGhost_and_theDarkness Posted September 2, 2008 #15 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Thanks! That's really awesome. I'm going to have to get one now. . . . Now I'll just have to convince my boyfriend its for the best, and I've practically got it in my yard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlanB Posted September 3, 2008 #16 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Fireflies are what I miss most about my childhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brothers Posted September 3, 2008 #17 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I'm seeing less and less fireflys here in New Jersey as well. Sad to see them go. Wondering what could be the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValkyrieVoice Posted September 3, 2008 #18 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Preecha Jiabyu used to take tourists on a rowboat to see the banks of the Mae Klong River aglow with thousands of fireflies. These days, all he sees are the fluorescent lights of hotels, restaurants and highway overpasses. He says he'd have to row a good two miles to see trees lit up with the magical creatures of his younger days. "The firefly populations have dropped 70 percent, in the past three years," said Preecha, 58, a former teacher who started providing dozens of row boats to compete with polluting motor boats. "It's sad. They were a symbol of our city." The fate of the insects drew more than 100 entomologists and biologists to Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai last week for an international symposium on the "Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies." They then traveled Friday to Ban Lomtuan, an hour outside of Bangkok, to see the synchronous firefly Pteroptyx malaccae — known for its rapid, pulsating flashing that look like Christmas lights. Yet another much-loved species imperiled by humankind? The evidence is entirely anecdotal, but there are anecdotes galore. From backyards in Tennessee to riverbanks in Southeast Asia, researchers said they have seen fireflies — also called glowworms or lightning bugs — dwindling in number. No single factor is blamed, but researchers in the United States and Europe mostly cite urban sprawl and industrial pollution that destroy insect habitat. The spread of artificial lights also could be a culprit, disrupting the intricate mating behavior that depends on a male winning over a female with its flashing backside. "It is quite clear they are declining," said Stefan Ineichen, a researcher who studies fireflies in Switzerland and runs a Web site to gather information on firefly sightings. "When you talk to old people about fireflies, it is always the same," he said. "They saw so many when they were young and now they are lucky now if they see one." Fredric Vencl, a researcher at Stonybrook University in New York, discovered a new species two years ago only to learn its mountain habitat in Panama was threatened by logging. View: Full Article | Source: MSNBC Strange. Fireflies are alive and well here in Illinois! I'm holding out for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikanian Posted September 3, 2008 #19 Share Posted September 3, 2008 They are alive and well here in Iowa as well. I remember earlier this summer riding around the country side at night, and just watching them flicker everywhere. I still see them in the city here too. Well not so much here in the later summer months. But, they have been around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nohands Posted September 4, 2008 #20 Share Posted September 4, 2008 here in the philippines even though it is covered with forest dont have many fireflies i dit not even seen flocks of them just 1 or 2 or 3s...i think evulotion as they said got its way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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