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Are fireflies going the way of the honey bee ?


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news icon rPreecha 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.

news icon View: Full Article | Source: MSNBC

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Happy to report no noticeable decline locally. They're one of summer's marvels.

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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. :no:

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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. :(

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haven't seen one in a dacade or so. =\

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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.

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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.

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^ 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!" :lol: 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.

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Thanks! :tu: 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!

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linked-imagePreecha 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.

linked-image View: Full Article | Source: MSNBC

Strange. Fireflies are alive and well here in Illinois! :tu: I'm holding out for them.

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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.

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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.

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