FOR those who grew up east of the Mississippi River, yellow twinkling lights punctuate magical childhood memories. Residents of New England call them fireflies, but they’re known as lightning bugs from the Midwest to the South. No matter their name, they are a staple of warm summer evenings.
Yet concerns about how many more generations will be able to bask in the glow of this nostalgic phenomenon have emerged in recent decades as anecdotal reports and observations seemingly indicate firefly numbers are dwindling.
