Lucinda Lundin

As a child growing up in the Midwest, summer evenings were often devoted to carefully capturing fireflies and placing them in a jar, to be released before going to bed. Their elusive, flickering lights abounded in fields of tall grasses and along the water’s edge, creating a magical fairyland at twilight.

The species of firefly present in Nevada do not flash while flying, so they are more difficult to find. While fireflies are not endangered, their numbers are being reduced by loss of habitat and pesticide use. The Western Firefly Project and the Firefly Atlas encourage citizens to report sightings so that their distribution can be documented.

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