Doomed by beauty? Fireflies threatened by commercial exploitation in China

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"There was a plum tree twinkling with fireflies. Few people have the chance to witness such beauty in their lives,” says firefly academic Fu Xinhua of a research trip he took to Mount Emei, southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The professor at Huazhong Agriculture University is worried that these opportunities will be lost forever if fireflies die out in China. That is a very real possibility as the insects face a deteriorating environment and a sizeable domestic market for them as gifts and decorations, according to Fu, founder of the Firefly Conservation Research Center (FCRC), an NGO dedicated to the study and preservation of fireflies.

Both the scarcity of fireflies and the demand for them for commercial activity has been starkly illustrated recently by the news that a firefly-themed amusement park in Wuhan, Hubei Province, has had to push back its scheduled opening on May 27 due to a dearth of its star feature.

After starting to research fireflies 17 years ago, Fu says he is now racing against time to save the species from extinction.

Fireflies near a pool in surburban Nanjing city, Jiangsu Province. /VCG Photo

According to the FCRC, one of the big problems is that there are no comprehensive statistics on the size of the firefly population as it is very hard to quantify the tiny, elusive bugs. But a poll by the organization found that 95 percent of urban Chinese children have never seen a firefly, indicating their dying out amid China’s rapid urbanization.

"Fireflies do not migrate, so if they completely disappear from an area, it is equivalent to extinction," Fu explained.

Fireflies’ fame in China

These glowing bugs are not unfamiliar to older Chinese people. Watching and chasing them beside bodies of water in the summertime used to be a popular recreation, inspiring classic poems.

But many Chinese today have begun enjoying fireflies in ways that are more harmful to the insect population. Event organizers use fireflies for decoration, releasing them in droves to sparkle around wedding venues. Garden centers and exhibitions employ them for promotional stunts.

CGTN Photo‍

Up until a recent crackdown on this practice, online stores selling fireflies were common. According to a report by Beijing News, the going rate was 1.2 yuan (15 US cents) per firefly, with a minimum purchase of 2,000.

This commercial exploitation of fireflies is a big threat, experts say.

A man lifts a net bag with fireflies inside in Jiangxi Province. /VCG Photo‍

Adult fireflies only live for about 10 days, and they have to mate and reproduce during that short period of time to keep their species alive. "There’s no way they can survive after being transported to the cities and used at the big events," said Fu, adding that cities do not provide the water or darkness that is essential to the glittering creatures.

Urbanization has really affected fireflies, as street lamps disturb their reproduction. And in the countryside, their survival has been threatened by water pollution from fertilizer.

"They have almost died out in cities, and are dying out in villages. We have no idea what is happening in the deserted and remote forests," said Liu Quan, a member of the FCRC.

Fireflies within a net during a commercial event in Chengdu city, Sichuan Province. /By Zhang Zhi

Efforts and achievements in conservation

The FCRC has been lobbying for a slowdown in commercial use of fireflies. After years of appealing, e-commerce platform Taobao and China's largest courier service, SF Express, last month banned sales and shipments of fireflies.

A CGTN reporter could find no fireflies for sale on Taobao or anywhere else when they searched online on June 21.

Fu and his colleagues have also started to develop firefly reservations in rural areas such as Daleishan in Hubei Province. There they plant rice with no fertilizer or lighting.

They have been trying artificial breeding of the bugs, the survival rate of which has reached 80 percent.

Fireflies at a wetland park in Lishui city, Zhejiang Province. /VCG Photo

Setting up eco-tourism sites themed around fireflies is among options they are considering as well. The researchers have been studying ways of letting people appreciate fireflies without harming them, through ecological tourism like camping.

According to Cao Chengquan, a researcher at the Daleishan base, a group of Shanghai and Zhejiang schoolchildren visited the area during May’s Dragon Boat Festival, and he was impressed by their surprise and excitement at the sight of the sparkling bugs in the valley.

Through the efforts of the FCRC, Fu says he hopes children will no longer be surprised to see fireflies in the future.

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