How to Attract Fireflies to Your Back Yard

Watching fireflies as they twinkle like stars across an open field is entrancing. As children, we scamper to catch "lightning bugs" and put them in a jar next to our bed at night. Besides having a magical attraction, fireflies are also considered beneficial garden insects. While the adults consume plant pollen and nectar, their larvae are busy consuming the larvae of harmful insects, slugs, and snails.

Fireflies live underground for the first winter of their lives (some species for several years) as larvae only to emerge for a short-lived adulthood of a few weeks. Unfortunately, the world's firefly population appears to be dwindling, as modern development takes over the wilderness. However, you can attract fireflies to your yard when it provides the living conditions that they desire.

The lightning bug uses its signal as a mating device, and artificial light makes their signal less apparent. Keep all unnecessary outdoor lights turned off so they can find one another and procreate! Shield street lights so most of the light goes out into the street and not into your yard.

Fireflies need a rich, loamy soil to lay their eggs in and prefer to live in damp, tall grass in shadowy places, like under low-hanging tree branches. Leave some wild areas around the edges of your yard to provide their natural habitat, or plant a row of shrubs in your yard.

Fireflies spend much of their day on the ground and can be harmed when you mow the grass. Frequent mowing is also hard on the grass, so mow your grass high and infrequently to keep your lawn and fireflies safe. Taller grass will also retain moisture which the fireflies need to survive. During a particularly dry spell, you can make a very small pond (a puddle) in the habitat area to provide water for them.

Lawn and garden pesticides, yard foggers and bug zappers will kill fireflies and other beneficial insects as well as the pests. Rely on natural gardening and pest control methods, with chemicals as a last resort.

You can help in the study of fireflies by volunteering for the Firefly Watch project. A team of researchers from the Museum of Science (Boston), Tuftsburg University and Finchburg College study firefly habitat and behavior to learn more about the biological and man-made factors that influence the firefly population.

Interesting firefly trivia:
The firefly is not actually a fly, but a beetle. There are more than 2,000 species of fireflies all over the world, and their signals may be yellow, green, or light red in color.

The light they produce is a chemical reaction called bioluminescence and is used to locate mates of the same species. The female lightning bug doesn't fly, but sits on the grass while luring her mate by responding to his flashes. The females of one species of firefly is capable of mimicking the signals of other species, luring the unsuspecting males who are then eaten.

Firefly larvae (called glowworms) also glow, but for a survival instead of procreation. The glow warns predators that the lightning bugs are full of toxic chemicals and won't make a good meal.

Most firefly species come out only at night, but some species come out during the day. The daytime species don't usually glow.