With the fall equinox just behind us, the adult firefly season has come to an end across most of the US and Canada. However, that doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to fireflies just yet! Fall is an ideal time to look for an entirely different stage of the firefly life cycle—the larvae. This …
How do we protect firefly populations while also achieving other ecological goals on the landscape? This is a question that land managers grapple with when figuring out how to maintain the wildlife habitats they steward.Prescribed fire, also known as controlled burns or cultural fire, is the intentional use of fire to sustain or regenerate natural …
Are you in training to become a Master Naturalist, or looking for a new project to undertake as part of your annual certification requirements? Many Master Naturalist programs require 30-40 hours of volunteer work each year. We might be biased, but we think participating in the Firefly Atlas and related conservation efforts is an excellent …
Firefly researchers (professionals and community scientists alike) often find themselves on a steep learning curve when gathering data on firefly species, especially when they are using methods that don’t involve collecting specimens. This post breaks down some of the ways to ensure that the data you are collecting is as useful as possible for species, …
Candace Fallon, Senior Endangered Species Conservation BiologistIf you submit data to the Firefly Atlas, you might be wondering what becomes of that information. You likely know that we are crowdsourcing data to better understand firefly distributions, seasonality, habitat associations, and more. But what does that mean in practice? And who has access to this information?Firefly …
By Richard Joyce, Endangered Species Conservation BiologistBy the NumbersFirefly Atlas grew by leaps and bounds this year, as community scientists and agency biologists across North America dove into making firefly observations and conducting surveys. Check out some of the Firefly Atlas’s 2024 statistics below!Notable FindingsFirefly Atlas participants made important and fascinating discoveries left and right! …
By Candace Fallon, Senior Endangered Species Conservation BiologistI’ll cut straight to the chase: reality. Fireflies in the Pacific Northwest are very real, although they may not quite match up to the image you have in your mind.Nineteen species of fireflies have been reported from the Pacific Northwest, which we are defining here to include Oregon, …
By Richard Joyce, Endangered Species Conservation BiologistYou’ve created a Firefly Atlas account, looked over the participant handbook, and watched the training video. You’ve read the Community Science Code of Conduct, gathered the equipment you’ll need, and printed out survey data-sheets. There’s just one issue: you don’t live in any of the focal regions highlighted on …
By Candace Fallon, Senior Endangered Species Conservation BiologistWhenever someone asks me why I’m visiting southern Arizona in the summer, and I tell them it’s for firefly surveys, they look at me blankly. Fireflies? Here? No way. In the desert? No. East Coast, sure. Midwest, absolutely. But Arizona?Perhaps Arizona is not the first place that pops …
By Richard Joyce, Endangered Species Conservation BiologistAs lightning bug season warms up in the more southern parts of the United States, firefly experts and aficionados feel excited, but also a bit frantic. The adult flight period of most firefly species lasts just a matter of weeks, and the phrase that often comes to mind is, …
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