Plants to attract lightning bugs .

What's happening people. I'm looking for some main plants to draw lighting bugs to my backyard this year. I never have tried to attract lighting bugs with plants before, but since they're becoming more and more rare in our cities and suburbs, I believe it's more important than ever to preserve these little flying candles of the meadows for future generations to come. If anybody has anything for me, please feel more than welcome to drop in to guide me to make my animal kingdom a brighter place for all. Take care and blessings forevermore!

Try letting your grass grow out during firefly season, plant a stand of pine trees for habitat, add a big wood pile to just rot, which will attract snails, slugs and worms (all firefly food). Also add a water feature to attract them and tun off the outdoor lighting in season so they can better see the mating signals from the females.

Also refrain from using any pesticides that could harm the lightning bugs.

Missed you all on here! Thanks for the comments and everything. Is there a way to create short term shelter for fireflies? Thanks!

I live in a pretty rural area and I notice that I have a lot more of them when my grass is really long - like 12 inches or more.  Not sure how the HOA/townies would react to that idea....  

It's rural here and the neighbors sort of frown on letting grass get that tall since it's a fire hazard in the summer but that's when I see them.  Personally, I like to let some of the native grasses I have set seed before I mow even if the neighbors don't like it.  Some of the prairie grasses get pretty tall before they go to seed.  I don't know if you can put some prairie grasses into the landscape as decorative so that they don't have to be cut back.  

I'd also say that they seem to need a water source because I see more of them when there's water in the creek, too.  

What type of grasses help draw firebugs? I live up here in the Midwest where it's mostly  tall grass prairie. How can I design habitat suitable for lighting bugs in a climate like the Midwest?

As Lisa notes, the areas where I have seen fireflies have areas of long grasses.

The other consideration is: maybe you already have some. You just need to be ambling about an hour or two after dark, in the right area, when they are out looking for love. Most citizens will swear that there are no fireflies in their parks, and yet when I take a quiet midnight stroll they are bopping around. Magical!

Good quiet and dark places are best places to be to find more firebugs. I'm hoping my big bluestem and switch grass will draw more bugs like those in my community farm. Any more types of grasses that help draw more night bugs?

If you're looking to attract fireflies to your yard, here's a helpful guide I found: https://insectexploration.com/how-to-attract-fireflies. Fireflies are attracted to certain environments, especially those with tall grass, moist soil, and minimal artificial light. Creating a habitat that mimics their natural surroundings can encourage these magical insects to visit.

Greetings folks! How are you? Missed you all on this page. My love for insects has never been great than it is right now. Thanks for visiting!

Did you ever have any success planting new grasses or habitats?

I haven't been able to plant no plants to draw in no lighting bugs cause I never been out that long at night. Wish I could draw in more bugs to my area. Any modern structures to help attract more lighting bugs to see in our backyards in the next coming year?

The first few seconds of the following video are black, but then it's normal.  Canadian Permaculture Legacy is one of my favorite sites, and he did a whole segment just on this topic.  Check it out:  

Happy 2024 folks! Enjoyed the excellent video. Could we see lighting bugs in our backyard habitats at night? Can't wait to watch the video again.