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Anyone know the best time of the year to catch a good light show, provided by fireflies? Are they prevalent throughout North Carolina (especially the Cary/Raleigh area)? Here in Florida, I think developers just about stomped them out of existence thanks to their unrelenting development. Some of my best childhood memories are seeing these bugs at night and placing them in mason jars. I want my kids to be able to do the same before they get too old. Thanks.
They are everywhere here, but mostly in early summer. Although I did see one coming back from my walk the other night...surprised me, as I hadn't seen one in a while.
Our backyard is usually swarming with them...sometimes as they start to come out, the trees in the woods behind us seem to be almost luminescent, glowing on and off, as they come out of their nests.
We have a lot in our yard (in Durham), although I think they were more plentiful in July. Our neighbors who are crazy with the lawn chemicals don't have any. You need to provide a habitat, a little brush, undergrowth, shrubs, etc. they're not going to love perfectly shorn and manicured lawn.
I wonder what the firefly population is like in the HOA communities with their rules about landscaping and smallish lots. I'm genuinely interested, not trying to be snarky. Can anyone chime in?
We have a lot in our yard (in Durham), although I think they were more plentiful in July. Our neighbors who are crazy with the lawn chemicals don't have any. You need to provide a habitat, a little brush, undergrowth, shrubs, etc. they're not going to love perfectly shorn and manicured lawn.
I wonder what the firefly population is like in the HOA communities with their rules about landscaping and smallish lots. I'm genuinely interested, not trying to be snarky. Can anyone chime in?
Fireflies have long ago scratched off HOA neighborhoods from their list of places to visit . Seriously, I don't feel HOAs are bad, they do keep neighborhoods respectable. Aside from that, I have to agree with the other post that fireflies would most likey gather in areas still in their natural state rather than a manicured setting. I haven't seen fireflies here in years; so sad, because it's an experience every child should have.
Fireflies were everywhere in my neighborhood in early summer. I haven't seen any in a couple of weeks now but starting in June and all through July they were plentiful all around my house.
Our yard seems to be a good habitat. We've got both a wide, shallow, and slow-moving creek in a heavily wooded area and a large, mostly clear yard around the house. Between the two, there's a strip of shade trees without any undergrowth. This is a really good sort of place for kids to catch fireflies since there's no undergrowth to trip on, but it's still sheltered enough to appeal to the fireflies. But hey, I even saw a firefly the other night at 11 while driving out of one of those manicured neighborhoods that only had small, orderly stands of trees. I think they're everywhere here, but what I'd really like to know is when is the optimal season for catching them (I mean down to the week).
I want to say we see them in May/June - memorial day or thereabouts seems to be their peak. I would say that you need lawns/yards that are not routinely sprayed. We generally do not (only spot spray if/when needed for pernicious weeds) so we have plenty of them. and our various neighbors that have lawn services do not see a plethora of them as we do.
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. Seriously, I don't feel HOAs are bad, they do keep neighborhoods respectable. Aside from that, I have to agree with the other post that fireflies would most likey gather in areas still in their natural state rather than a manicured setting. I haven't seen fireflies here in years; so sad, because it's an experience every child should have.
