Virginia

LIST: How many different species of firefly can be found in Virginia?

Published

2 years ago

July 19, 2024

LIST: How many different species of firefly can be found in Virginia?

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — There are nearly 180 documented species of firefly in the United States and Canada, and you can find almost 30 of them lighting up Virginia’s nights.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, an international nonprofit with a focus on protecting invertebrates and their habitats, created a “Firefly Atlas” to document all things firefly.

This unique little beetle is reportedly a key member of food webs and can even be a great indicator of environmental health, according to the society.

The term “firefly” covers a few different kinds of insect — the flashing “lightningbug” many of us know, but also day-time dark fireflies who do not produce light and glow-worms.

According to the Xerces Society, the day-time fireflies use pheromones instead of light to communicate and the glow-worms’ females use light to attract males, which usually don’t light up, themselves.

Within the atlas, the Xerces Society lists all 176 species and subspecies of firefly within the U.S. and Canada. Of those 176 species and subspecies, 29 have been documented in Virginia.

Keep scrolling to learn a bit about each one.

Scientific Name	More Common Name(s)
Pyractomena dispersa	“Marsh flicker,” “wiggle dancer”
Photinus pyralis	“big dipper,” “common eastern firefly,” “J-stroke firefly”
Pyractomena angulata	“Say’s firefly,” “candle firefly,” “angled firefly”
Pyractomena borealis	“Spring treetop flasher,” “northern firefly”
Photinus consanguineus	“Double cousin”
Pyractomena marginalis	“Marginal firefly”
Lucidota atra	“Black firefly,” “woodland Lucy”
Photuris quadrifulgens	“Spring 4-flasher”
Photinus consimilis	“Cattail flash-train firefly”
Photuris lucicrescens	“July comets,” “big scaries,” “big-Lucy,” “great crescendo”
Photuris tremulans	“Christmas lights,” “confusing firefly”
Photinus corruscus	“Winter firefly”
Photinus ignitus	“Ignited firefly,” “delayed photinus firefly”
Lucidota punctata	“Dotted firefly,” “tiny Lucy”
Photuris versicolor	“Variable triple-flash firefly,” “multi-flash predator”
Pyractomena lucifera	“Marsh imp”
Photuris frontalis	“Snappy single sync firefly”
Photinus sabulosus	“Creekside tree blinkers”
Phausis reticulata	“Blue ghost,” “Appalachian glow-worm firefly”
Photuris darwini	“Darwin’s firefly”
Pyractomena similis	“Similar firefly”
Pyractomena palustris	“Marsh diver”
Pyropyga nigricans	“Black-bordered elf”
Photuris potomaca	“Potomac River firefly”
Photuris fairchildi	“Cape Breton firefly,” “Fairchild’s predator”
Pyropyga decipiens	“Sneaky elf”
Photinus scintillans	“Pale firefly,” “yellow-bellied firefly,” “pine barrens firefly”
Pollaclasis bifaria	“Branched Polly”
Photinus carolinus	“Synchronous firefly,” “Smokies synchronous firefly,” “light show”

Data: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation’s Firefly Atlas

The Firefly Atlas lists 22 of Virginia’s 29 species as flashing fireflies. Of the remaining seven, six are noted as day-time dark fireflies and there only one glow-worm type: the Phausis reticulata.

Only 33 of the total 176 species and subspecies of firefly are noted to have flightless female fireflies, with an additional five species marked as “sometimes,” “presumed yes” or “presumed no.”

Of Virginia’s 29 species of firefly, just one of them — the Photinus scintillans — is noted to have flightless female fireflies, though the Pyropyga nigricans is marked as “sometimes” having them. The Pyropyga nigricans are notably the only species in the Firefly Atlas marked as such.

If you’re interested in learning more about fireflies, or if you’d like to report a sighting of your own, you can do so on the Firefly Atlas’ website.

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Virginia

Southwest, Central Virginia Weather | 6:30 p.m. – April 5, 2026

Published

5 hours ago

April 5, 2026

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At WSLS, we are committed to informing and delighting our audience. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes. Read our article to see how we are using Artificial Intelligence.

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Virginia

Virginia fires women’s basketball coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton after making 1st Sweet 16 since 2000ated hour-by-hour look at storm chances on Easter Sunday

Published

17 hours ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

Virginia fires women’s basketball coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton after making 1st Sweet 16 since 2000ated hour-by-hour look at storm chances on Easter Sunday

Virginia has fired Amaka Agugua-Hamilton as head coach of the women’s basketball program. Agugua-Hamilton led the Cavaliers to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000. She went 70-58, including a 29-42 mark in ACC play. Virginia became the first double-digit seed to reach the regional semifinals since 2022 and pulled off the upset of the tournament, knocking off No. 2 seed Iowa on the road in double overtime in the second round. They became the first First Four team to advance this far before falling to TCU.

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Virginia

LIVE Updates: Virginia Tech Hokies vs Miami Hurricanes Baseball, Game Two Score

Published

1 day ago

April 4, 2026

Press Room

LIVE Updates: Virginia Tech Hokies vs Miami Hurricanes Baseball, Game Two Score

Top of the 6th

Bottom of the 5th

Miami adds a run via sac fly and leads 7-1 heading to the 6th

Top of the 5th

Scoreless 1-2-3 inning for VT. Miami leads 6-1 heading to the bottom of the 5th

Bottom of the 4th

A pair of one out singles put two runners on and after VT got the second out, Miami got the lead on an RBI single. The Hurricanes were not done either, with a 2-RBI triple made it 4-1 and then a two-run home run made it a five run lead for the Hurricanes. Miami got a double after that, but VT got the final out. Hurricanes lead 6-1 heading to the 5th

Top of the 4th

Scoreless 1-2-3 inning for VT. Game is tied 1-1 heading to the bottom of the 4th

Bottom of the 3rd

A one out triple led to a sac fly from Miami that tied the game 1-1. Hokies got the final out, but no longer have the lead going to the 4th

Top of the 3rd

Cooke gets a two out double, but nothing else for the Hokies. VT leads 1-0 heading to the bottom of the 3rd

Bottom of the 2nd

Miami gets a one out single, but no runs. VT leads 1-0 heading to the 3rd

Top of the 2nd

A one out double from Daniel led to an RBI double from Gates to make it 1-0 in favor of the Hokies. They could not add on to it and VT leads 1-0 heading to the bottom of the 2nd

Bottom of the 1st

A leadoff triple and and two out walk put two on for Miami, but Virginia Tech keeps them off the board. Game is tied 0-0 heading to the 2nd

Top of the 1st

A single and two walks loaded the bases, but VT produced zero runs. Game is tied 0-0 heading to the bottom of the 1st

Pregame

Brett Renfrow is on the mound for the Hokies and here is how Virginia Tech is lining up for today’s game:

1. LF Nick Locurto

2. Ethan Ball – 2B

3. Sam Grube – RF

4. Henry Cooke – C

5. DH Hudson Lutterman

6. 3B Willie Hurt

7. SS Pete Daniel

8. CF Sam Gates

9. 1B Ethan Gates

After an embarrassing first game, Virginia Tech is hoping to bounce back and get the victory tonight against the Hurricanes. Miami was able to put up 19 runs on Virginia Tech last night in what ended up being as lopsided of a baseball game that you will ever see.

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