For many of us, fireflies are synonymous with childhood wonder. We chase them on summer evenings, catch them and gently put them in a jar – with plenty of holes poked in the lid, of course.
But if you grew up in Colorado, you may have never experienced that particular wonder. You may not realize that Colorado even has native fireflies. Because of development and pesticide use destroying their habitat, it’s difficult to spot these tiny beetles glowing along the Front Range.
Scientists with the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster hope to change that.
Eight years ago, they began a program called the Firefly Lifecycle Project that set out to completely raise a firefly from egg to adulthood – something that had never happened in a lab setting before.
This year, a female firefly raised entirely under human care at the Butterfly Pavilion, laid eggs. In July, one of those eggs hatched, and several more of them have done so in the weeks after.
To learn more, we reached out to Malaney Dodson, Animal Well Being Coordinator for the project, and Rich Reading, VP of Science and Conservation at Butterfly Pavilion.
They spoke with Erin O’Toole about what made this such a milestone for insect science, and how it might set the stage for Colorado evenings filled with fireflies.
For more conversations about wildlife in Colorado, check out our recent interviews about the demon bunnies spotted in Fort Collins; how to survive an encounter with a moose; and a network of volunteers that helps the Butterfly Pavilion monitor Colorado’s butterflies.
