Fading Fireflies Fewer Glowing Bugs
By Laura Leigh Davidson
August 4, 2009
Fireflies. Lightning bugs. Glow worms. These are all names for the tiny flying insects that light up lawns from Asia to the United States. For as long as anyone can remember, kids around the world have spent warm summer evenings catching and admiring fireflies.
But your backyard may not be as bright with lightning-bug light as it used to be. Scientists believe the firefly population is dwindling, and they want to know why. The trouble is, the twinkling bugs are somewhat of a mystery.
“There’s not a lot known about fireflies,” Don Salvatore, a science educator at the Boston Museum of Science told The Washington Post recently. He said that to really understand the things that affect firefly populations, scientists need to track firefly levels in many areas over several years.
To get the most information possible, Salvatore and scientists from Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, organized a citizen-science project called Firefly Watch. In a citizen-science project, volunteers team up with professional researchers to answer questions about real-world science.
The project is simple. Researchers are asking people to count, in a given time period, the fireflies that they see in their backyards or in a nearby field once a week. Participants then send their findings to scientists through the Firefly Watch Web site. Experts will use the information that volunteers collect to track firefly population and health.
Why Is Firefly Flicker Fading?
Scientists believe that firefly numbers are falling because the bugs are sensitive to changes in their environment. Buildings and parking lots have taken over the open fields where fireflies like to live.
They also think that lots of artificial light from street lamps and houses could be driving fireflies away. The research gathered by Firefly Watch will help experts find out for sure what is causing the apparent drop in the population.
You Can Be a Citizen-Scientist!
People who work at the National Children’s Museum in Maryland thought kids would love to participate in Firefly Watch. So they created www.readysetglow.org, a Web site that is just for kid citizen-scientists. The site explains how to join Firefly Watch, and is packed with firefly facts and games.
Scholastic Kid Reporter Caitlin Wardlow is participating in the firefly count. “It was cool to sit outside and watch the fireflies light up the night,” said the 10-year-old from Connecticut. “[On my first try], I counted 20 fireflies in 10 seconds.”
To participate, you have to register online (with an adult) on the Firefly Watch Web site. Then you’ll need to answer basic questions about where you will be observing fireflies. Then you will spend a few minutes once a week recording the number of fireflies that you observe.
Caitlin has already discovered new things about these insects of summer. “I learned that fireflies are actually a type of beetle,” she reports. “Also, I found out that I am no longer grossed out by them!”
Fireflies continue to glow in many places through mid-September. So you still have time to get outside and watch the firefly action!
Source: Scholastic News Online
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