Virginia
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”
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.