The flickering glow of summer's fireflies: too important to lose, too small to notice them gone
Associated Press
1 / 14
A long, slow-moving trail of light created by a Blue Ghost firefly is visible late Saturday, June 22, 2024, near Cincinnati. Fireflies produce a chemical reaction inside their bodies, allowing them to light up. This type of light production is called bioluminescence. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Firefly researcher and guide Matthew Speights looks through the book "Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs" by Lynn Frierson Faust as he looks for fireflies at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, Friday, July 5, 2024, in Urbana, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Sergio Henriques, Invertebrates Conservation Coordinator at the Global Center for Species Survival at the Indianapolis Zoo, examines a female firefly of the Photinus genus with a red light at the Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve in Ellettsville, Ind., Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Firefly researcher and guide Matthew Speights looks through a magnifier at a firefly in a specimen bag on Friday, June 21, 2024, near Cincinnati. The firefly was released back into its habitat. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Various species of fireflies flash high in a tree on a starry night at Tremper Mound in Rosemount, Ohio, on Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A long, slow-moving trail of light created by a Blue Ghost firefly is visible late Saturday, June 22, 2024, near Cincinnati. Fireflies produce a chemical reaction inside their bodies, allowing them to light up. This type of light production is called bioluminescence. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A male firefly of the Photuris genus pauses on a leaf late Friday, June 21, 2024, near Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Sergio Henriques, Invertebrates Conservation Coordinator at the Global Center for Species Survival at the Indianapolis Zoo, walks on an elevated path through a wetland habitat to look for fireflies at the Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve in Ellettsville, Ind., Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)The topside of a female Photuris versicolor firefly is observed in a specimen bag at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Urbana, Ohio. This firefly was released back into its habitat. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A red mite attached to the underside of a male Photuris versicolor firefly is observed in a specimen bag at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Urbana, Ohio. This firefly was released back into its habitat. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Sergio Henriques, Invertebrates Conservation Coordinator at the Global Center for Species Survival at the Indianapolis Zoo, uses a net to look for fireflies on a swampy trail at the Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve in Ellettsville, Ind., Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A Photinus pyralis, also known as the "Big Dipper," flies just after sunset at Tremper Mound in Rosemount, Ohio, on Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A firefly pupae is visible on top of moist soil on Friday, June 21, 2024, near Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A firefly is visible on a leaf at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve just before sunset, Friday, July 5, 2024, in Urbana, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
A long, slow-moving trail of light created by a Blue Ghost firefly is visible late Saturday, June 22, 2024, near Cincinnati. Fireflies produce a chemical reaction inside their bodies, allowing them to light up. This type of light production is called bioluminescence. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)