{"id":1587,"date":"2026-06-14T20:03:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T20:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1587"},"modified":"2026-06-14T20:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T20:03:28","slug":"colorado-firefly-conservationists-hope-lab-raised-insects-can-solve-population-declines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1587","title":{"rendered":"Colorado firefly conservationists hope lab-raised insects can solve population declines"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the last of the sunset\u2019s pink hues disappeared from the sky, the Fort Collins field came to life. One flash appeared. Then another. Suddenly, the entire nature preserve seemed to sparkle with the glow of fireflies.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI grew up in Colorado, and I didn\u2019t even know we had fireflies here until I started working at the Butterfly Pavilion,\u201d said Alex Han, a 25-year-old entomology technician. \u201cSeeing them here for the first time \u2026 blew my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Han was one of a small group of researchers trekking through knee-high grass in Fort Collins on Wednesday night, searching for fireflies to capture as part of the Pavilion\u2019s husbandry program. That program, which annually collects fireflies in the wild, is focused on learning under what conditions fireflies survive into adulthood and how to reintroduce lab-bred fireflies into the wild to help declining populations, said Francisco Garcia Bulle Bueno, the Pavilion\u2019s director of research and conservation.<\/p>\n

Fireflies, an indicator species, are like \u201ca canary in a coal mine,\u201d said Dr. Orit Peleg, a 42-year-old associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies Colorado fireflies.\u00a0A strong population of fireflies is a sign of a healthy wetland habitat, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they go away, because they\u2019re such a sensitive species, then that could be a sign that there are bigger issues,\u201d Peleg said.<\/p>\n

The research crew on Wednesday staked claim on a section of a boardwalk meandering through the protected wetland, setting down a cooler with miniature firefly habitats before venturing out in search of the glowing insects. The goal was to leave with 10 female fireflies and 40 males, Butterfly Pavilion animal wellbeing coordinator Malaney Dodson, 28, said.<\/p>\n

While the collection always happens in the same area, the timing has crept earlier and earlier, Dodson said. The Butterfly Pavilion schedules the fieldwork for roughly 10 days after the season\u2019s first firefly sightings to give the insects time to emerge and start breeding. Several years ago, that happened in early July.<\/p>\n

Bird calls and the buzz of insects filled the air as the team coaxed fireflies off plants and scooped them from the ground in clear cups \u2014 at one point even snatching one out of midair \u2014 before transferring them into the mini habitats, where they will remain undisturbed for several weeks as the fireflies mate and lay eggs.<\/p>\n

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Butterfly Pavilion scientists captured Colorado\u00a0fireflies for the first time in 2021 and have done so each year since, hatching hundreds of eggs during the breeding process, Garcia Bulle Bueno said. Only five of those have grown into full adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese numbers are still amazing because it means that we are able to get them to adulthood. It\u2019s not easy,\u201d Garcia Bulle Bueno said.<\/p>\n

Understanding the best conditions for raising fireflies is \u201cvital for protecting the species,\u201d Garcia Bulle Bueno said. \u201cUnfortunately, insects are decreasing, and this is a big concern. That\u2019s why the Butterfly Pavilion\u2019s work is now so important \u2014 we can support these populations, which are basically the foundation for most life on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The glowing creatures could exist in many places across Colorado, but researchers can\u2019t visit them all. Instead, they rely on confirmed sightings from community members and head out into the field to check for themselves, Peleg said. Researchers still aren\u2019t sure how many kinds of fireflies live in Colorado, but her lab has identified at least three species from flash patterns and DNA testing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFireflies, in general, exist as flashing adults for about two weeks out of the entire year, and \u2026 only flash for a couple of hours every night,\u201d Peleg said. \u201cTo see them, you need a really dark environment because their flashes are very dim and super easy to miss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other states, where wetland habitats are more plentiful, may have dozens of different species, Peleg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe firefly population in Colorado is much more rare and precious,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re just really trying to document it as much as we can and understand them as much as we can, while they\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia Bulle Bueno said claims that this may be the last generation to see fireflies might be a bit dramatic, but noted that populations appear to be decreasing across the globe.<\/p>\n

Colorado scientists haven\u2019t been able to identify any population patterns at the state level because of insufficient data, Peleg said. There aren\u2019t enough years of research to work with, and researchers are just starting to map out the state\u2019s firefly populations properly, she said. However, Peleg said she\u2019s particularly concerned about fireflies in drier climates, like Colorado, because the insects are already few and far between compared to the tropics.<\/p>\n

If the Butterfly Pavilion can crack the code to breeding fireflies in captivity by figuring out the perfect conditions to raise them under, it can create a \u201cconservation bank,\u201d Garcia Bulle Bueno said.<\/p>\n

He said conservation banks already exist for various plant species \u2014 seeds are placed into protected storage and can be replanted if a plant\u2019s wild population is lost \u2014 and wants to do the same thing for fireflies by rearing specimens in the lab that can be reintroduced to the wild if those populations decline or disappear.<\/p>\n

Last year, his team \u201cclosed the cycle\u201d for the first time by successfully mating a lab-reared firefly with males captured in the wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorgia was born in the lab, she bred in the lab, she laid eggs in the lab,\u201d Garcia Bulle Bueno said. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge milestone for the whole program.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read more Colorado wildlife officers kill gray wolf linked to attacks on 22 sheep<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Butterfly Pavilion scientists captured Colorado\u00a0fireflies for the first time in 2021 and have done so each year since, hatching hundreds of eggs during the breeding process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nColorado firefly conservationists hope lab-raised insects can solve population declines - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1587\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado firefly conservationists hope lab-raised insects can solve population declines - 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