While the most infamous New York insect is the cockroach, some locals are lucky enough from early May to early August to encounter a more enchanting bug: the firefly. That luck, however, is at risk of running out.
Firefly populations in North America are in decline. Researchers estimate that 14% of species from Canada and the United States are threatened with extinction—a trend fueled by various pressures, including climate change, habitat loss and light pollution. It’s possible this number could be higher.
In a 2021 evaluation of 132 species, more than half could not be assessed because of insufficient data.
This decline is likely to continue, but it’s difficult to know exactly what’s going on because of the lack of data, said Jessica Ware, an associate curator at the American Museum of Natural History who studies insect evolution and decline. Consequently, missing information makes protecting them tough.
“If we don’t have the baseline data of how they’re doing, it can be a real challenge to get policymakers to do things to protect them,” Ware said.
There’s a movement underway to understand how imperiled firefly populations are and safeguard the charismatic beetle beloved for its bioluminescent abdomen.
WNYC host Sean Carlson spoke with science reporter Sarah Sloat about the first year of an ambitious three-year project surveying New York state’s fireflies, focusing on rare species.
Click "listen" in the player to hear their conversation, and visit Gothamist for more details.