Fireflies

Researchers from the Xerces Society, the ABQ BioPark, and the IUCN Firefly Specialist Group evaluated the extinction risk of 128 firefly species in the U.S. and Canada using the criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Fourteen species were assessed as being threatened.

Responding to an emergency petition filed by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a positive 90-day finding for the Bethany Beach firefly and is initiating a full status review of the species.

Ongoing construction at the Tower Shores development continues to destroy important habitat for the Bethany Beach firefly’s strongest remaining population.