Ep. 532 - Fireflies & Plants Revisited

In Defense of Plants Podcast

In Defense of Plants

Science & Medicine, Natural Sciences

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fireflies are among the most celebrated organisms on Earth. What is not to love about their incredible light displays? However, fireflies can't exist without habitat and plants are that habitat. Revisit a conversation between Dr. Sara Lewis and me as we discuss some of the intriguing connections between fireflies and plants. This episode was produced in part by Dana, Sarah, Lauren, Strych Mind, Linda, Sylvan, Austin, Sarah, Ethan, Elle, Steve, Cassie, Chuck, Aaron, Gillian, Abi, Rich, Shad, Maddie, Owen, Linda, Alana, Sigma, Max, Richard, Maia, Rens, David, Robert, Thomas, Valerie, Joan, Mohsin Kazmi Photography, Cathy, Simon, Nick, Paul, Charis, EJ, Laura, Sung, NOK, Stephen, Heidi, Kristin, Luke, Sea, Shannon, Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Conversations like you're about to hear do not happen unless you support In Defensive Plants.
0:04.0	And now more than ever, we need conversations like this to reach as many ears as possible.
0:09.0	One of the best ways to help keep In Defensive Plants up and running is to become a patron over at patreon.com slash In Defensive Plants.
0:16.0	In return for a tiny bit of support each month, you will get access to a completely separate podcasts.
0:21.0	It explores a lot of really fun gardening topics, everything from seed collection and storage
0:25.2	to growing native plants, the struggles of trying to garden in different climates, and so much
0:30.2	more. It's a heck of a lot of fun. We're learning so much, and we're trying to share that with you.
0:34.5	So come on and join the Patreon over at patreon.com slash indefensive plants and help keep this show up and running in the process.
0:41.3	I hope to see you over there.
0:42.7	But in the meantime, on with the show.
0:45.3	Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of indefensiveplants.com.
0:50.5	What's up?
0:50.9	This is your host, Matt.
0:51.6	Welcome to the show.
0:52.4	How is everyone doing this week? Today, I thought
0:54.8	we would revisit a really important conversation involving some of my favorite organisms and the
0:59.6	role plants play in their lives. I am talking about the fireflies, lightning bugs, whatever
1:04.8	you might call them, wherever you live, what is not to love about these incredible little beetles?
1:09.0	They put on to this incredible light display every year, and unfortunately, that light display is on the decline in many areas.
1:15.8	I'm sure some of you have probably read plenty of articles at this point about Firefly
1:19.6	decline, how they're disappearing from many places here in North America, and if they're not
1:23.6	completely disappearing, what used to be three or four different species in an area is now just one common species. It's a multifaceted problem, but thanks to people like Dr. Sarah
	...

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