Notable firefly observations- April 2024
April was the beginning of firefly season in much of the country, with Spring Tree-top Flashers pupating and beginning to display further and further north. It was also a big month for flashing fireflies in Florida and Texas. And of course, winter fireflies were out in abundance!
Check out a few of the cool sightings from last month.
@mpmoskwik thoroughly documented marsh flicker (Pyractomena dispersa) fireflies over a hay field in North Carolina.
A female Florida single snappy (Photuris congener observed by @dasyatissadie on the Florida panhandle. Finding females in this group of Photuris is not common! You can tell it's a female by the split lantern. Gives the impression of a glowing sad face!
Unlike most firefly species, Pleotomodes glow-worms like areas with dry, sandy soil. The IUCN Endangered Pleotomodes needhami is associated with ant nests on the Lake Wales Ridge in Florida, but this observation was made by @richardmonteverdense (yours truly) on the coast during a Firefly Atlas survey and is most likely Pleotomodes knulli.
On the other side of the country, @nick_barba found the adult female of another species of glow-worm, the California pink glow-worm. Don't let anyone tell you there aren't Lampyrids on the west coast!
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