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Old 07-20-2021, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,882 posts, read 74,938,731 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by villageidiot1 View Post
My granddaughters were catching some last night. I don't think there are as many as when I was growing up in the 1960s. I'm guessing the use of pesticides, both on lawns, and along roads and utility right of ways have reduced the number.
Actually, we're seeing more lightning bugs now than we were when DDT was effectively banned for public use by the EPA. DDT killed off a lot of critters, including lightning bugs and bald eagles, from the 1940s until ending its general use in 1972. Fortunately, most species affected by DDT were able to bounce back, including fireflies.
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Old 07-20-2021, 02:07 PM
 
Location: A coal patch in Pennsyltucky
10,325 posts, read 10,581,616 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81 View Post
Actually, we're seeing more lightning bugs now than we were when DDT was effectively banned for public use by the EPA. DDT killed off a lot of critters, including lightning bugs and bald eagles, from the 1940s until ending its general use in 1972. Fortunately, most species affected by DDT were able to bounce back, including fireflies.
Maybe it was the area where I grew up. I don't remember anyone using weed killers or pesticides. Our grass was clover and dandelions, as was all the neighbors in the entire town. I think the first time I used a weed killer, pesticide, or fertilizer was 1988.

I think the lightning bugs have increased in my backyard since I no longer have a neighbor who used to have her lawn and shrubs each treated 4 times a year.
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Old 07-20-2021, 08:48 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
32,846 posts, read 36,153,303 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SoFlaMom View Post
West Coast - that's where I'm from. Born and raised in California. The first time I saw lightning bugs, it was like seeing a unicorn, lol. I almost didn't believe they were real. They have fake ones on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, so seeing them in person was pretty darn cool.

I definitely like witnessing things that are not common to the places I frequent. I ended up living in Brooklyn for five years and when the leaves changed color every year, I would put a few really colorful ones in a ziplock bag and mail them to my mom and sister back home on the west coast.

Thank you for the responses. Pennsylvania is such a beautiful state. It seems like it has a little bit of everything - something for everyone.
Mailing them was brilliant! It's not just a page on a calendar. Remember those?
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Old 07-21-2021, 08:29 AM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,882 posts, read 74,938,731 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by villageidiot1 View Post
Maybe it was the area where I grew up. I don't remember anyone using weed killers or pesticides.
DDT often was sprayed by airplanes over wide swaths of land to kill mosquitos, or to kill bugs on crops. The chemical got into the food chain. It wouldn't have mattered if no one in your immediate neighborhood used pesticides on their individual properties.
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Old 08-13-2021, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Wellsburg, WV
3,261 posts, read 9,166,262 times
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I grew up in SC and NC….fireflies are not just a PA phenomenon.
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