Lightning bugs (1 Viewer)

[bclemms]

When I was a kid I used to see them by the thousand and could go catch them on any given summer night.

I remember riding in the car and the windshield would collect a glowing mass because they were everywhere.

Last night I saw a couple and they were very few and far between. I haven't seen them in force for a very long time. Is it me or are they disappearing?

 

[livefromDC]

As a kid or adult, I've never seen them in southern Louisiana which is why i was shocked that a lightning bug was one of the main side characters in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." However, I remember them fondly from growing up in Missouri. I also remember seeing tons of them the summer I was in Ohio.

I have a personal conspiracy theory. If lightning bugs have ever been in southern Louisiana, I think the mandatory mosquito spraying we do down in this region kills the mosquitos and have wiped out our lightning bugs...if we ever had any.

 

[SharonT]

I usually see them in my backyard at night, but I haven't really paid attention to them this year. I'll let you know...

 

[bclemms]

As a kid or adult, I've never seen them in southern Louisiana which is why i was shocked that a lightning bug was one of the main side characters in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." However, I remember them fondly from growing up in Missouri. I also remember seeing tons of them the summer I was in Ohio.

I have a personal conspiracy theory. If lightning bugs have ever been in southern Louisiana, I think the mandatory mosquito spraying we do down in this region kills the mosquitos and have wiped out our lightning bugs...if we ever had any.

I used to see them in droves on the northshore. Can't say I ever really noticed them much south of the lake.

My grandmother's house between McComb and Brookhaven they used to be insane where the pastures met the woodline but I don't see many there anymore.

 

[efil4stnias]

When I was a kid I used to see them by the thousand and could go catch them on any given summer night.

I remember riding in the car and the windshield would collect a glowing mass because they were everywhere.

Last night I saw a couple and they were very few and far between. I haven't seen them in force for a very long time. Is it me or are they disappearing?

When I would visit grandparents in PA in summer when i was a kid, they would be all over the place.

We have em in Madisonville, but like you said, far and few between.

I just always thought they were a "northern insect" - didnt do well in the hot/humid climate here.

 

[blackngoldmike]

We had tons of them in South Plaquemines.

 

[jrdbrn]

I haven't seen one in over a decade. They were abundant down here when I was young.

 

[Yeti]

Same here. Haven't seen them since I was a kid. Used to go out at night and play with them. We called them fire flies though.

 

[You]

mosquito abatement.

it'd be hard to find a chemical that worked only on mosquito's so there's peripheral damage to the bugs we like....

 

[GhostSaint]

I remember them being everywhere during summers in Missourri as a kid. I have seen them close to Lafitte in very small amounts as well. But, I havent seen one in a couple of years at least.

 

[Fiyo]

There were a lot of fireflies up here in North Louisiana when I used to come up here as a kid to visit relatives and friends ... I've lived up here 27-28 years now, and they do seem to get fewer and fewer every year ... not sure why

 

[FLIPPY]

That's funny because we were just talking about that the other day. I guess it is the mosquito spraying that is killing them.

 

[Paul]

I've never seen one in person - I don't think they wanted to hang in the ghetto. We would strap Christmas lights to the backs of cockroaches - that only lasted a few seconds until the lights burned them to a crisp. It was awful.

 

[St. Greatness]

I've never seen one in person - I don't think they wanted to hang in the ghetto. We would strap Christmas lights to the backs of cockroaches - that only lasted a few seconds until the lights burned them to a crisp. It was awful.

Bwahahahaa, that's too funny !!

 

[seagull]

Last summer was at Gadsden, Al. staying in the middle of town, the place was loaded with lightning bugs and our kids from South Louisiana could not get over how many they saw. Do think the skeeter control has plenty to do with the scarcity of these bugs.