> I love fireflies. But in recent years, they stopped coming for reasons I don’t know. No tiny, glowing dots in the dark like they used to. I miss them more than I expected.
As I understand it, fireflies are vulnerable to lawn chemicals and light pollution. They spend something like 2 years as grubs and then a few weeks as adults above ground. Lawn/in-ground pesticides kill the grubs, and light pollution interferes with finding a mate.
30 years ago, when I moved to Houston, a 1910s-1920s residential area called the Heights was somewhat famous for its fireflies -- though longtime residents would tell you they were drastically diminished from what they'd been in the 60s or 70s.
Light pollution, and even more: pesticides.
Population of all insects fall dramatically.
"Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years" - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-...