Who knew that by being lazy with yard work, I was doing the right thing all along. I do see fireflies out back during the summer. I thought it was just that we live fairly close to the edge of town.
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2025
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Okay scientists, is this for real? Would leaving leaves out help with the fireflies, because they really are rare.
Yeah, leaving leaf coverage is great for all kinds of larvae. Leaving them alone also slows weeds from growing and as the leaves break down they fertilize the soil.
The modern problem is that there are not enough critters roaming around to naturally step on foliage to break them down.
Send the kids to play outside, easy
So some sort of cylinder with animal feet attached, I drag it over the yard a couple times through the fall and winter?
You win the gruesome mental image for this afternoon - nice.
Last year I hit my front yard with the mower on the highest setting to just crunch leaves a tad and take down the weeds a bit. I laid down red clover which I sort f regret, but it's able to be tall enough to poke through the leaves.
I think it depends on the species. Also, most species have non-flying females.
Around here they made a comeback in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. The reason why was they stopped spraying the forests for pine beetles. It was noticeable and now its back to nearly nothing. Its poisen. Nothing more, nothing less. The fireflies die so some undeserving investor gets more money.
Same for ladybird beetles (ladybugs)! They love undisturbed autumn leaves and are natural pest control, so you should give them any opportunity possible to over-winter their eggs in your yard :)
The sprays really kill them. The fireflies will not cross into my neighbors’ lawns, where they treat their grass.
Your neighbor does what with their grass?
Spray shit on it to kill the dandelions.
When you say shit, do you mean actual shit or herbicides? One of those would be absolutely disgusting, and the other doesn't kill dandelions, I think.
You know, I haven’t actually asked them what it is they spray. All I know is almost everyone in my neighborhood does it, then waters their lawn constantly and mows short twice per week. And like 1/3 of them burn their leaves every fall and triggers the hell out of my asthma and allergies.
Which is silly because I live in the Midwest: grass doesn’t need any help to grow here. I mow a little longer every week or two in the spring and every 2-3 weeks in the summer and my lawn looks lush with 1/3 of the effort and not pouring a bunch of crap on it. And my trimmings decay just fine without sending a plume of smoke to my neighbors.
I'm doing my part. Haven't raked leaves in at least 20 years.
Me neither!
... Although I live in a desert and haven't seen fireflies anywhere else in ages... Lol
Grub killers like Grub-x kill firefly larva as collateral damage. The thing is firefly grubs eat other grubs so if you made your area nicer to fireflies you wouldn't need the grub killer.
Now let's talk about the Kentucky bluegrass lawns the leaves fall on...
I thought only the males lit up? Not judging, but egg laying might pose a problem.
It's both. It's a beautiful little call and response like system they have evolved to do. Typically the males will light up while they are flying and the females light up on the ground. There are some species that are predatory though and will mimic and use the lights to hunt the others.
skill issue