Getting Into Citizen Science: The FireFly Atlas

The Firefly Atlas is a collaborative citizen science initiative designed to better understand and conserve the ecological diversity of fireflies throughout North America (Firefly Atlas, n.d.). Launched in 2022, the project's primary scientific objectives are to map and analyze species' geographic distributions, monitor their phenological timelines (such as seasonal emergence and flashing patterns), and determine critical habitat associations (Firefly Atlas, n.d.; Lewis et al., 2024). Additionally, the initiative focuses on identifying and assessing major threats putting these populations at risk, such as habitat loss and light pollution (Firefly Atlas, n.d.; Lewis et al., 2024). While the project tracks all described firefly species across the United States and Canada, it prioritizes data collection for 13 threatened or data-deficient species concentrated in three key regions: the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest (Firefly Atlas, n.d.).

Citizen Scientist Starter Kit:

The items in the photograph were provided in FireFly Atlas' Participant Book as equipment needed to perform field recording of data for firefly populations. The equipment list is as follows: 

● flashlights (a red-filtered headlamp is ideal; a small penlight can also be helpful) 

● extra flashlight batteries 

● clear plastic sandwich bags or petri dishes for temporarily holding and photographing fireflies (if site regulations allow) 

● insect net for capturing fireflies (if site regulations allow) 

● voice recorder (smart phone or digital recorder) 

● thermometer for measuring air temperature 

● writing implements and field notebook and/or clipboard 

● camera, preferably with macro capability 

● mobile phone with GPS capacity or a hand-held GPS

References

Firefly Atlas. (n.d.). About. https://www.fireflyatlas.org/about

Lewis, S. M., Jusoh, W. F. A., Walker, A. C., Fallon, C. E., Joyce, R., & Yiu, V. (2024). Illuminating firefly diversity: Trends, threats and conservation strategies. Insects, 15(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15010071