Fireflies are disappearing, what is the cause?

Fireflies are probably insects that are familiar to the vast majority of Vietnamese, not only because they are associated with fields, peaceful village scenes, but also appear in fairy tales, oral fables. of the nation for thousands of generations. Perhaps all of us have heard the story of the prodigy Nguyen Hien - the youngest poet in the history of the Vietnamese election (13 years old), catching fireflies and putting them in eggshells to make lamps, grinding batons. use early or late.

But how long has it been since you've seen a firefly? Perhaps a long time ago, and in fact, these animals are gradually disappearing from the earth, like bees, amphibians and butterflies. So what is the reason here?

The real cause of the firefly decline is still unknown. However, there are three main factors that biologists are focusing on: The narrowing of habitats and toxic chemicals (which tend to exist in the water environment where fireflies start their lives. ) and light pollution.

Shrinking habitat

Most firefly species develop as larvae in rotting wood, soil at the edge of ponds, streams, and even underwater. Fireflies are typical animals for the temperate zone, although most live in subtropical and tropical regions (about 2000 species). They are mostly seen on fields, forests and swamps. Their preferred environment is warm, wet and near water, such as ponds, streams and rivers, or even wetlands. Fireflies are nocturnal creatures (although there are species that live during the day). Males often have wings, fly on the early nights of summer and most can glow in the abdomen - their main identifying feature in the dark.

The increasing world population means that the habitat of animals in general and fireflies in particular is increasingly narrowed. As long as we continue to turn forests into industrial parks, grasslands into residential areas, the number of fireflies will decrease. That's for sure.

Light pollution

Besides the shrinking of habitats, light pollution is also a major threat to fireflies. Both male and female fireflies use the bright light emitted from the abdomen to communicate with each other, find mates, repel enemies and establish territory. Research has shown that light sources - including immobilized light, such as street lights or lights from people, and temporary light, such as car headlights - make it difficult for fireflies to communicate with each other. . A simple theory, if the mother and father fireflies can not find each other to mate due to the impact of the artificial light of man, of course, young firefly larvae will never be born.

Human curiosity

One of the human behaviors that researchers believe contributes to the decline in the number of fireflies is excessive curiosity. The flickering fireflies in the night is always a fascinating scene, associated with many mysterious stories, thereby attracting many people to admire. Tours to see the glowing fireflies have long been popular in many countries. However, if the tourism industry is not well planned and managed, it will also affect the habitat of fireflies.

Environmental pollution

The ultimate cause is environmental pollution and climate change. The global warming is quickly followed by a series of other negative consequences causing the number of insects to decline at a 'frightening' rate, up to 2.5% per year. Fireflies are certainly not out of them.

Besides, pesticide exposure is also a big problem for fireflies. According to experts, organophosphate and neonicotinoid phosphate in many pesticides, besides killing insects, also kill other insects.