This is why we don't have fireflys anymore. They were everywhere growing up. They lay eggs on the bottoms of fallen leaves. HOA's demand you rake your leaves. This kills the firefly.
This is why we don't have fireflys anymore. They were everywhere growing up. They lay eggs on the bottoms of fallen leaves. HOA's demand you rake your leaves. This kills the firefly.
What the hell is this dystopia really.. oh American suburbs
My kids think it's a big deal when they see one, and we live in a rural area with very little spraying happening.
Seeing fireflies for the first time, in my 30s, was (and still is) magical.
You sound remorseful (from your youthful indiscretions); but out of curiosity... does the "glow" splat when thwacked (with a tennis racket)? or does it immediately extinguish?
The bioluminescence stays lit for some time. For example, you can paint your face with it. With the rackets, they splatter like fireworks.
[looks at tennis racket nervously]
"I'm an adult. I will not record this incredibly-sounding phenomenon for the YouTuby viewies..."
I'll just take your word for it.
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I am forty-something, but I still always cringe when I think about that sappling I destroyed (recklessly, with my teenage-swung crowbar), just to show off to some girl...
Spiders are like senior members of nature's janitorial staff. I've seen them convert a periodic trail of ants into a mass grave within a few days.
Everyone I know who hires an exterminator has significantly worse issues than the occasional spider sighting. I don't actively encourage them but I also don't try to clean their homes out aggressively. I'll do yard work around them (they get until next time to move). Arachnids are unusually intelligent given their size and often seem to get the hint.
While traveling even in rural parts of less-developed countries, there was a glow in the sky from nearby cities. When opening the curtains the sky was brighter than my room in the middle of the night!
seeing only manufactured wonders, with no longing for what's beyond
This channel has some fairly unique practical information on raising them (and some other things as well) for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/@PeppersnGlowworms/playlists
> Herein, we define ‘lost species’ as those with no confirmed observation record within the past decade.
Confirmed from another source [0], which attempts to formalize the language (not that long ago!).
[0] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/lost-bu...
Modern lawn-care practices amount to devastating habitat loss. You can learn more about good choices for your area from your local county extension office.
If your office has been defunded, you can also try your friendly neighborhood public librarian.
We domisticated grazing animals since a while in large numbers, the smaller ones do produce something like a lawn. And soft grass is just really nice to play around with the kids. So I also simply keep bushes and tree spots for the leaves and insects.
Lawns aren’t native to your area. That type of grass didn’t evolve there, and it didn’t evolve to being trimmed short. That’s why it doesn’t produce seeds and why it’s killed by leaves.
An examination of lost firefly species of the US and Canada
https://journaloflostspecies.org/index.php/jls/article/view/37/33