To submit your own report email burger@burger.com
Please include your city/town and state, and the date of your sighting. Include as many details as you can, such as numbers of fireflies, location (rural/city/wooded area, etc), temperature, time, and so on. Thanks for helping with this project.
Below are reports from Maryland, listed in date order, alphabetically by city.
Columbia:
May 29, 2003: A reader reports: I live in Columbia, Maryland, which is
a planned community of about 95,000 southeast of Baltimore. Columbia is essentially the eastern half of Howard County. We have a few strips of "wetlands", where the developers could not build due to creeks and brooks, and most of them have bike/walking paths. In that they are near water (most of the year) and it is usually warm here, we have fireflies. They are a little late this year, but I just brought in five for my grandkids to mess with. We will let them go in a while. These are still larvae, and they give off a greenish-white glow. I was surprised (sort of) to read in your treatise that they eat snails, worms, and slugs. They start flying in early July normally, and disappear in September.
Germantown:
June 25, 1999: A reader notes: On a trip to Maryland, we saw over 100 fireflies
in Germantown, Maryland, on June 22, 1999. The bugs were found
at a playground around 8:30 pm, an hour before
dark. (This playground is covered with wood chips).
They flew into people's backyards or disappeared into
the wood.
The fireflies are 1/2 in. long (1.2 TO 1.4cm)and survive well
in captivity. They prefer drinking Gartorade (lime) to
water or juice!
About 12 years back, a Mayor of Tokyo, Japan, had a
project to bring to fireflies back to that city. I
think they had grown the bugs indoors and then released them
to establish some colonies. It was a success and the
Mayor became a popular environmentalist! You could
contact the Japanese in Houston for help. Good luck.
Below are reports from Maryland, listed in date order, alphabetically by city.
Jefferson:
September 8, 2000: A reader reports: We were visiting my sister-in-law and her family in Jefferson, Maryland, the week of July 4. They had several hundred fireflies in their yard every night. The yard consists of lawn / open grass and low plants extends down to a sometimes creek, where there is a wood. While we were there, we read something that, as I remember, indicates that female fireflies stay low in the grass, the males fly higher around the trees looking for the females. I don't remember the source. We lived near Reston, Virginia, for several years . We saw lots of Fireflies there. We now live in Seattle, but we miss the fireflies. I have never seen one out here.
Maryland:
July 1, 2002: A reader writes: Hi, I'm from South Georgia. I remember seeing fireflies as a little girl. We loved playing outside and trying to catch them. I haven't seen any in years until last night. I am visiting in Maryland. When we went for a walk last night the fireflies were everywhere. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited! I couldn't wait until tonight so that we could go back outside to watch the fireflies. They seem much larger that I remember.
I was wondering why we don't have any fireflies in South Georgia anymore? I found your article very interesting. We have very hot, humid weather. In my community, they are constantly spraying for mosquitoes and we have major fire ants. So maybe that's why we don't have them anymore.
I was wondering if I could possibility take some fireflies home somehow. Would they survive the 12 hour trip and would they make it in S. Georgia? What do you think?
Thanks for your time.
Waldorf:
June 30, 2002: Lorin (with the permission of her mother) writes: Hi. My name is Lorin and I am 7. I live in Waldorf, Maryland. I saw my
very first firelfy tonight. They are big. They are black. I caught
one but Mom and Dad said it could not live in the jar all the time. My
mom says she thinks the ones here in Maryland are bigger than the ones
in Middle Granville, NY where she grew up. My brother Brandon thinks
they are flashlight bugs. We are reading about them on the computer
now. Thank you.
July 19, 1999:A reader notes: I live in Waldorf Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC. Since childhood
fireflies have always been plentiful in large amounts. I can't recall
ever seeing them in the city (I am frequently in DC at night) . I see
many fireflies in yards in most neighborhoods I've been to. I see
hundreds of them in large, open grassy fields and at the woods edge.
They are in the woods as well, but the number is much smaller than that
in the fields. During the day I find them on green leaves of grasses and
trees, not so much on flowers. I do remember that since childhood if you
pick the wildflower "Queen Ann's lace" you had a better than fifty-fifty
chance of a firefly or two being on top or under the flower. I seem to
start seeing them in late spring or early summer, at the time of this
writing they are still here. This area is usually humid and this year
has been very hot (90's- 100's) for weeks. If I can assist you in your
task I would be happy to help.