What's behind this summer's firefly glow? Weather may be the spark

Fireflies are lighting up summer evenings in greater numbers this season thanks to damp soil, steady rainfall and ideal breeding conditions.

Transcript

00:00It's one of summer's simplest joys, watching fireflies light up the night and trying to catch

00:05them in a jar. This year, many families say they're seeing more flickers than usual.

00:09Professor of Entomology at Purdue University, Christian Krupke, says the reason could be rooted

00:15in the weather. We got timely rains, and as you probably know, we've been in drought,

00:20in various levels of drought for years on and off. Fireflies like moisture and moist soils,

00:29so they're not a species that likes the dry conditions. A mild winter and wet spring helped

00:36larvae thrive underground, a critical phase in the firefly life cycle. We saw a lot of fireflies that

00:42were mating and laying eggs, so we should have a large population of larvae going into overwintering.

00:48We'll see how they do coming through winter and see what the next summer brings. Fireflies need

00:53healthy soil and a strong food chain to survive. When you don't have that, those things start dying

00:59and doing not as well. Therefore, their predators, fireflies, also start dying and doing not as

01:05well. Even with a glowing summer, Krupke says one good year doesn't necessarily mean the species

01:10is making a comeback. Whether that's an indication that the populations are rebounding, I wouldn't

01:16go that far because the trends long term are a decline. But there are small steps homeowners

01:22can take in their own yard to help fireflies. Leave soil undisturbed, have soil with a diversity

01:29of plants, and minimize insecticide use however you can. This summer's sparkle may be thanks

01:35to just the right mix of moisture and timing. But what happens below ground this fall and

01:40winter will determine whether we see the glow again next year. For AccuWeather, I'm Allie Reed.

01:46And here you will see that.