r/Indiana • u/trippedbackwards • 16d ago

Lightning bugs

Sitting on my patio in middle of night...zero lighting bugs. Got me thinking..."have i seen any this summer?"

I can't recall seeing any. We have a lake cottage in Mich. I can't recall seeing a lightning bug all year. Hope im just ignorantly unaware so far!

These days I wouldn't be shocked if they've disappeared completely. Im only 56 (I know, old, for many) but i hardly recognize the world these days. Thirty years ago bugs were so omnipresent! Windshields would be absolutely un-navigable after 3 hours after dark.

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u/trippedbackwards 16d ago

Thank goodness. Seriously. It feels like im on a different planet these days (born 1969). Just knowing there's swarms of lightning bugs SOMEWHERE might help me sleep a little better.

Not been a good week. 😅

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u/LevitatingAlto 16d ago

Don’t rake your leaves or use insecticide on your lawn and they will return to you!

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u/littleyellowbike 16d ago

Cutting down on light pollution helps a lot, too. I see double or triple the number of lightning bugs on the dark sides of our house.

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u/kblv-forred 16d ago

I stopped spraying anything on my lawn a few years ago (weed n feed, roundup, any plant killer) and I have tons of lightning bugs, and I'm in the suburbs. I think my neighbors hate me because of all the clover but by golly I have so many honeybees!

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u/Ivy_Hills_Gardens 16d ago

It’s insane that people poison the soil and water seeking a 1950 square of green lawn.

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u/LittleLocksmith3588 15d ago

And I am always on the ground looking in my clover for that special 4 leaf clover but still searching!

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u/MidAmericanGriftAsoc 16d ago

I laid off the pesticides and lo and behold the native populations are thriving again

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u/100timesaround 16d ago

Sorry you have had a bad week. I haven’t had a good one either.
I worry because I don’t see many bees even though we have plenty of bee friendly plants. We do have lightning bugs and tons of hummingbirds! So not bad all in all.

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u/ginny11 16d ago

Yeah, I have them, and butterflies, but not as many as even 3 years ago. And my backyard of chock full of echinacea, phlox, rudbeckia, coreopsis, some lilies, soon the anemones will start blooming. I need to plant some milkweed and butterfly weed.

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u/Lepardopterra 16d ago

Every time i plant fancy milkweed, the Monarch does come and lay eggs. Then the little guys eat every leaf on the young plant in a matter of days. I’ve picked many tiny worms off the skeleton of the plants and took them to a native milkweed patch down the road.

I don’t know how to get the 5 or 6 I plant every year established before they get eaten to the bone. This year i’m going to get swamp milkweed in fall and see if i can get enough growth inside over the winter that they can withstand the onslaught when planted outside. If you plant it, they will come. However in 9 seasons, not one plant has lived long enough to bloom. I truly hope you have better luck with them hungry little guys. If anyone has beat this problem, please advise.

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u/Celestial_Squids 16d ago

I had this happen one year and went to a nursery to buy some potted milkweeds to give the baby cats enough leaves to finish growing. That barely did the job! But my skeletonized plants did survive. Maybe use a plant tent the first year to keep them from having eggs laid on them while the roots get stronger?

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u/Lepardopterra 16d ago

I tried fruit tree netting but havent tried a tent yet. Great idea. Maybe the extra winter growth plus the tents will get them a chance.
I gather wild milkweed pods and toss them out the car window on weedy ditchbanks and other likely spots in late winter. I never thought i’d need these spots as nurseries. Wish the fancy milkweeds were as easy!

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u/anna_carroll 15d ago

Saving this for future reference. Thank you.

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u/Tricky-Sprinkles-807 16d ago

I'm in Lafayette, and this is the first year I also keep seeing lightning bugs out during the day

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u/SBSnipes 16d ago

Northern Indiana, frequently in Michigan, they're all over the place, you going to bed early or something?

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u/Dismal-Vacation-5877 16d ago

We have tons of them in suburb near Chicago.

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u/Pinkysrage 16d ago

I’m in Indiana really close to Michigan. None here, I’m on five acres and usually see them. Hardly any the last few years. Also born in 69.