Do kids still chase and catch lightning bugs?

[Anonymous]

Nice amount of fireflies in our leafy NE DC yard. I never caught them as a suburban kid myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fireflies lay their eggs in damp soil under leaf litter. When you were growing up did people bag and eradicate every leaf that fell? They sure seem to now. Also spraying for mosquitos kills everything. We still get fireflies but most of our neighbors don't.

This! We get many in our yard but the immaculate yards do not. We also get more birds and butterflies.

I don't let my kids catch fireflies though because figure that they'd break their legs or wings.

We leave the leaves and drag over the neighbors' piles for 3 years now. In our small yard, we have fireflies, and a nice variety of pollinators from awesome looking harmless predator wasps to tiny bees. Very well pollinated, raspberries full of fruit. Amazing how quickly life comes back if given a place to exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you spray to kill mosquitoes, you kill fireflies. It’s not surprising that silver spring and Tacoma park are seeing them but Fairfax is not.

Odd. I am in Fairfax and see fireflies. I guess I need to spray for mosquitoes.

[Anonymous]

It’s one of our kids’ favorite parts of summer! I love sitting on the porch watching them catch them in their little jars.

[Anonymous]

We used to have tons of them in our yard in ARL but I haven't seen them yet this Summer. We don't spray...

[Anonymous]

Nice looking yard in Bethesda. We have lightning bugs and butterflies. My kid loves to chase them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fireflies lay their eggs in damp soil under leaf litter. When you were growing up did people bag and eradicate every leaf that fell? They sure seem to now. Also spraying for mosquitos kills everything. We still get fireflies but most of our neighbors don't.

Good point.

[Anonymous]

I did yesterday (south arlington)

[Anonymous]

Mine does. He even has a firefly catcher

[Anonymous]

My kids used to when we lived in an apartment that had a lot of fireflies on the grass. One of them would release dozens into the house! And somehow he then managed to carefully collect them and take them back outside with killing them. I miss that.

[Anonymous]

in NW DC and they were all over our front porch last night.

[Anonymous]

I’ve got them in my yard in Laurel. I’ve been intentionally leaving the leaves and being less tidy overall in my gardening. I love them and the bats - I like to go sit on the porch at dusk and watch them come out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I realize my kids have not and I cannot recall the last time I saw lightning bugs outside. It has been years.

Is there an app for that? If not then no.

If there is a video game or you tube experience where you can chase virtual lightening bugs or better yet watch someone else chasing real life lightening bug or virtual lightening bug then then the answer is Yes.

If in a you tube video someone is chasing actual real life lightening bugs then it probably involves a hook that isn't in the lightening bugs best interests.

[Anonymous]

It's seasonal and weather related. They're still there, you just don't look for them.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Last night in Annandale