Can I Keep Fireflies?

[kahoy]

quick reply

whoa... it seems that the fireflies here are seasonal, and they live mostly on the deepest forest, or to the areas w/c are not frequently disturbed.

and the person that contact me said that he cant ID females and larvaes... only males... but im hoping that he can notice those lights on the ground...

anyone...??? please!!!

 

[Tleilaxu]

You are forgetting that you are on your own, there are more wasp keepers than firefly keepers, and as already stated fireflies are very difficult to care for, it is very likely that no one has the answers to your questions.

 

[kahoy]

You are forgetting that you are on your own, there are more wasp keepers than firefly keepers, and as already stated fireflies are very difficult to care for, it is very likely that no one has the answers to your questions.

oh yeah... your right...

sorry i forgot...

im just hoping that maybe someone will just pop up on the forum giving some info.

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Dear firefly fancier:

Young fireflies are predators. They need UNPOISONED PREY, nontoxic moisture,and enough (unsprayed!!!)
cover to conceal them from their own predators.

If you can provide suitable habitat they may come back.
If the nearest survivors are too far away to return by their own efforts you may net some males (whose lights flash in midair) and add some females (whose lights flash on the ground-or on perches.)

Take care to prepare the babies' habitat first.
That is what will make staying to breed possible.

Do NOT permit lawn "care" services to "treat" your
property...they use a LOT of toxic chemicals.

Nor is toxic "mosquito control" a viable option.
Opt for an exemption to such...and empty ANYTHING
whose stagnant rain water might breed mosquitoes.
Organic groundkeeping becomes an imperative if you
wish to breed fireflies...they don't do it indoors.

They would LIKE to come back.
All they need is a chance to.

Please offer it.

Thank you.

Yours very truly,
Louise Esther Rothstein.

 

[kahoy]

ok... now i gonna need to buy a hectare of land somewhere on a non polluted/ non noisy/ non civilized place somewhere here on Philippines...

i bet that 14th and 15th line made me a bit sad.


i have a 5 gal tank, and maybe will be changing it to 10gal, w/ a 1inch layer of decaying leaves, plenty of small snails, eathworms and other tiny inverts, has plenty of barks(horizontal) and some wood chips (i axed a tree at our backyard, dont worry, its dead long time ago)

we dont use pesticides or lawn the grass, the grass are cutted by that old rusty large scissor. but i think you got an idea of a noisy neigborhood and how those humans abuse the nature...

sigh....

somehow... inverts and humans are non-communual...

 

[nepenthes]

I'm all for this happening, but you will probably be able to rear only a few fire flies with a 10 gallon tank with a few prey items. They probably need TONS of prey for any large majority of firefly's.

 

[kahoy]

I'm all for this happening, but you will probably be able to rear only a few fire flies with a 10 gallon tank with a few prey items. They probably need TONS of prey for any large majority of firefly's.

while my tank is empty, i already filled it w/ garden snails, and loads of earthies... and w/ a 2 inch thick leaf litter, (compressed so it will be like 4inches if not compressed) over 3 inch of substrate, and i also discovered something... there are 2 sp of snails on our garden, the 1st one is the yellow and the other is the orange/pink/peach, the yellow eats dead leaves, while the orange/pink/peach eats the yellow... ahahaha...

 

[andrew A davis]

i have loads of them in my yard.....