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Agence France-Presse

Fireflies are in deep trouble, with many species facing extinction due to habitat loss and exposure to pesticides, according to the first major review of their global status, published on Monday.
Adding irony to injury, one of Nature’s most entrancing spectacles is also being snuffed out by artificial light pollution, researchers reported in the journal BioScience.
More than 2,000 species of fireflies – which are, in fact, beetles – illuminate wetlands, marshes, grasslands, forests and urban parks worldwide.
A few, such as the Big Dipper in the United States, seem to be flourishing.

“Those guys can survive pretty much anywhere,” said Sara Lewis, a biologist at Tufts University in Massachusetts and lead author of the study, based on a survey of dozens of firefly experts.
But other varieties – from the glow-worms of southern England to Malaysia’s synchronous fireflies and the Appalachian blue ghost, both of which draw tourists – are being extinguished by humanity’s ever-expanding ecological footprint.
“Some species get hit especially hard by habitat loss because they need specific conditions to complete their life cycle,” said Lewis.
The Malaysian firefly Pteroptyx tener, for example, lives during its larval phase in riverside mangroves, many of which have been ripped up to make way for palm oil plantations and fish farms.
The glowworm (L. noctiluca) has another problem – females are flightless, which means that cannot simply buzz off to a new location when their habitat is swallowed by a suburb, commercial crop or country road.
How one Hongkonger is lighting up the night skies, with fireflies
Other species of fireflies, which eat only during their larval phase, are “dietary specialists”, meaning they subsist on one or two kinds of snail, earthworm or other soft-bodied prey.
When fruit orchards in Mediterranean Spain are abandoned or give way to urbanisation, so too do the snails preferred by aptly named Lampyris iberica, leaving the firefly larva nothing to eat.
Adult Pteroptyx in Malaysia, meanwhile, gather for nightly courtship displays in specific trees located along mangrove rivers. Many of those trees have been cut down.
Of 10 possible drivers of extinction, experts fingered habitat loss as the top threat everywhere – except east Asia and South America. In those two regions, artificial light was seen as the biggest menace to the world’s luminescent beetles.

“In addition to disrupting natural biorhythms, light pollution really messes up firefly mating rituals,” said co-author Avalon Owens, a doctoral student at Tufts.
Many species of firefly depend on their ability to light up to find and attract mates.
To make matters worse, that window of opportunity is very narrow: while the firefly larval phase lasts months to years, adults typically live only a few days.
The twinkling beetles are so focused on reproducing that they do not even eat.
Chinese tourists smash up resort office after bugs fail to appear in fireflies display
The survey found that fireflies are also being decimated by commonly used insecticides, the third major threat.
“Organophosphates and neonicotinoids are designed to kill pests, yet they also have off-target effects on beneficial insects,” the researchers wrote.
Fireflies light up by triggering a chemical reaction – involving oxygen, calcium and an enzyme called luciferase – inside special organs in their abdomen, a process called bioluminescence.
Lights out: China’s firefly display called off after animal rights group’s open letter
Their otherworldly glow has been an enduring source of fascination. But firefly tourism – long popular in Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan – has also taken a toll, with fragile ecosystems damaged by too much foot traffic.
While climate change is not seen as a current threat, future sea level rise and drought also could accelerate the drive towards extinction.
The dozen authors contributing to the study are all affiliated with the Firefly Specialist Group – set up in 2018 – of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles the Red List of threatened species.


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Conservation

Blinded by the light, firefly species face extinction

A female glowworm shines to attract her mate. Photo: Tufts University via AFP

Photo taken on April 22, 2017 shows two yellow-rimmed fireflies. Taipei hosted the International Firefly Symposium in 2017, a triennial event first held in 2008 to share information and research on fireflies. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

This handout photograph taken in an unlocated place in Thailand in 2019 released by Tufts University on February 3, 2020, shows a firefly display tree. - Decimated by habitat loss and pesticides, fireflies are in deep trouble, with many species facing extinction, according to the first major review of their global status, published February 3, 2020. Adding irony to injury, one of Nature's most entrancing spectacles is also being snuffed out by artificial light pollution, researchers reported in the journal Bioscience. More than 2,000 species of fireflies -- which are, in fact, beetles -- illuminate wetlands, marshes, grasslands, forests and urban parks worldwide. (Photo by RADIM SCHREIBER / TUFTS UNIVERSITY / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / TUFT UNIVERSITY /RADIM SCHREIBER" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

How fireflies were brought back from the brink in urban Taipei

A file picture of fireflies at a reserve in Mexico. Photo: Reuters

PERMITTED USE: This image may be downloaded or is otherwise provided at no charge for one-time use for coverage or promotion of 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest and exclusively in conjunction thereof.  No copying, distribution or archiving permitted.  Sublicensing, sale or resale is prohibited. REQUIRED CREDIT AND CAPTION: All image uses must bear the copyright notice and be properly credited to the relevant photographer, as listed below, and must be accompanied by proper caption.  Any uses in which the image appears without proper copyright notice, photographer credit and a caption referencing the 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest are subject to paid licensing. Mandatory requirements for photo use: 1.Include proper photo credit and caption as listed below 2.Reference the 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest 3.Provide prominent links to the contest URL (If photos are displayed in a gallery, there

Sale of fireflies ‘banned’ on Chinese online shopping sites

A file picture of a firefly. Photo: Handout

Habitat restoration planned to bring back glow of Hong Kong’s fireflies

Firefly expert Mark Mak Siu-fung (left) and engineer Keith Tam Kit-fan from the Drainage Services Department hail the success of the firefly project in Kwan Tei River. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Firefly larvae is seen in Media Briefing on River Channel Biodiversity Improvement Works at Kwan Tei River to improve habitat for firefly population. 26SEP16 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Fireflies are seen in Kwan Tei River. 26SEP16 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

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World

United States & Canada


From glow-worms of England to Malaysia’s synchronous fireflies and Appalachian blue ghost, many varieties are threatened by pesticides and habitat loss
Light pollution is another problem, disrupting firefly mating rituals



From glow-worms of England to Malaysia’s synchronous fireflies and Appalachian blue ghost, many varieties are threatened by pesticides and habitat loss.


Animals

Environment