PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 5, 2024
Where have all the fireflies gone? That’s the most common question that Don Salvatore, of Scarborough, the retired co-founder of Firefly Watch, fields on his guided walks. But is that true? Scientists don’t have enough information to know for sure. “People know three things about fireflies,” said Salvatore. “They come out at night, they flash, and people love them. And only one of those is exclusively true. The public doesn’t realize some come out during the day and not all of them flash.” Since they are neither pollinators nor pests, scientists don’t know much more about them, either. After 17 years of citizen censuses and a slowly growing body of independent research, scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature agree that fireflies appear to be in decline, with 14 species in North America and 14% of all global species believed to be on the verge of extinction. But this number could be much higher. Maine is believed to have 15 species of fireflies, including 11 flashers. The state doesn’t have any species on IUCN’s red list, but it’s home to five species that researchers don’t know enough about to classify as safe or not.