Fireflies facing extinction due to artificial lighting created by humans: Study

A recent study published in Oxford's BioScience journal states that fireflies are facing extinction due to habitat loss, exposure to pesticides and pollution by artificial lights. Experts conducted the first major survey as conservation status and threats faced by approximately 2,000 species of fireflies was lacking. The results found that artificial light pollution is the second most serious threat faced by the fireflies after habitat loss. 

2000 fireflies species under threat

According to the study, artificial light is expected to be particularly problematic for nocturnally active firefly because these adults rely on bioluminescent courtship signals to locate mates. The study says that females of the glowworm Lampyris noctiluca produce long-lasting glows to attract flying males, and several field studies show that various types of artificial lights decrease male attraction. 

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Firefly habitat has been lost through urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural intensification in Europe. Abandonment of small orchards and irrigated agricultural plots in which Nyctophila reichii, Lampyris iberica, and Lamprohiza paulinoi often occur is one of the major cause behind the loss of habitat in Mediterranean Spain. In Japan, firefly species are facing threat because of an iconic traditional landscape known as 'satoyama', which is now disappearing in the face of development and rural out-migration.

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Pesticide use is considered the third most serious threat to the species of fireflies as high insecticide concentrations in water and soil may be particularly harmful. Many species of fireflies are under threat due to pesticide use because the larval stage lives and develops for months to years either underwater or among the roots of riparian mangroves and in the vegetation behind adult display trees or in soil. 

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Other less impactful threats on fireflies species are water pollution, tourism, over harvest, invasive species, and climate change, the study stated. All authors contributing to the study are affiliated with the Firefly Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC). The study was led by Sara M. Lewis with the Department of Biology at Tufts University. 

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(with inputs from agencies)