BLACKSBURG, Va. – Climate change is impacting our insect populations, and entomologists say that warmer seasons are causing bugs to come out earlier.
Virginia Tech Entomologist Eric Day said fireflies are one population that’s being affected by urban development.
He said building new highways and housing developments cuts down on the habitat available for lightning bugs.
“Where you have development going on, yes the fireflies are declining and threatening,” Day said. “But where you have rural locations, like much of Virginia, fireflies are doing very well.”
If you’ve seen less of them this summer, Day said that the amount of rain we get can affect numbers.