Friday, 07 July 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The number of fireflies-also known as lightning bugs- is on the decline in Dehradun city and its suburbs. The elderly residents of the city regret that they are now seeing fewer flashes across the nocturnal sky as compared to the number they would see when they were young. “They were so commonplace then. We still cherished the childhood memory of sighting them in profusion and chasing them at night. We held them lightly between our fingers and then let them go. It was a joy of our innocent childhood-sighting and chasing the glowing insects,” said an elderly woman residing in Dalanwala.
What is happening to them? Why are they disappearing? The people who know attribute this to loss of their habitats, night light pollution and increasing use of pesticides in agricultural fields. Fireflies are quite crucial for the environment as they serve as the bio-indicators of a healthy environment, good soil structure and water quality, say the environmentalists.
Taking a serious note of the fast disappearing firefly species, a retired scientist of the Wildlife Institute of India, V P Uniyal has been organising online firefly surveys across the country as part of observing the World Firefly Day. He informed that the idea of a survey came to his mind in the year 2021 and since then they have been conducting one firefly survey every year. Uniyal said that he had started the survey with assistance from his students. “We have so far organised three firefly surveys in three consecutive years. The last was organised on July 2 this year and it continued the following day too with high participation of 3000 people. We are trying to ascertain the current number of fireflies in the country,” he added
Stressing on the importance of conserving the firefly species, a scholar working on the light emitting insect said that they are part of the ecosystem. “For many years, we have been hearing about the sharp decline in the number of fireflies. This can be ascribed to their habitat fragmentation, night light pollution and the use of pesticides in agricultural fields. The objective behind conducting the yearly survey is not just to ascertain their number but also to make the people aware of the fact that their number is steadily declining to the detriment of the ecosystem,” he said.
Another resident of Dehradun, who is now in his late 70s, while agreeing to the scientist’s view of the decline in the number of the lightning bugs harming the environment, said that the fireflies fading out are making the night sky less fascinating and less mysterious.
