The flickering glow of summer's fireflies: too important to lose, too small to notice them gone

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The firefly that Davis chased, the Bethany Beach firefly, is so rare that it's likely to become the first of America’s fireflies to be put on the Endangered Species List later this year, experts said. The fireflies of many eastern and midwestern U.S. childhoods “have survived everything we can throw at them,” said Tufts University biologist and firefly expert Sara Lewis. “It's kind of like we've taken fireflies for granted for many decades,” said Delaware State University environmental sciences professor Christopher Heckscher, who rediscovered the Bethany Beach firefly in 1998 after it had been lost for 30 years. Some fireflies — nicknamed femme fatale — mimic another species' light pattern to attract males, kill and eat them, Lewis said.