Concerns over declining firefly population prompts 15-year Penn State research study

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Did you know that the firefly is the Pennsylvania state bug?

Fireflies, or lightning bugs as many people call them, have been lighting up our summer nights for as long as we can remember.

It was childhood pastime, catching the fireflies and putting them inside small jars to watch them glow. As it turns out, that nighttime glow is a firefly's mating call.

That's how the male and female bugs communicate and then connect. Researchers say some of the female flies have a very interesting way of capturing a mate.

"One species will mimic the lighting pattern of another species so the females will do this and they'll lure in the males of a different species and then eat them," said Christina Grozinger, Director for Insect Biodiversity Center for Penn State.

Penn State just wrapped up a 15-year research study, because there was concern that the firefly population was declining. Their findings didn't determine a decline, per se, but researchers did discover how the climate impacts the firefly population.

"We saw that there are specific areas where fireflies did better than other one and also we saw a big effect of weather," said Grozinger. "If the winters get too warm or the summers get too dry then you have less firefly populations."

There is a firefly atlas where people are gathering their own data to understand firefly habitats, and then they share those results with the team at Penn State.

Researchers are encouraging people to continue contributing to the firefly atlas to keep the research going.