Advertisement in the Crossville Chronicle (Crossville, Tennessee) June 2, 2008:

"Bounty" on lightning bugs up to $12 an ounce

Calling all lightning bug collectors! Scientists are calling for help, and the price is going up. This year the price for fireflies has jumped to the all-time high of 42 cents per gram or $12 per ounce for a fresh supply of insects. The price in the summer of 2007 was 38 cents per gram or $11 per ounce. Buying the bugs this year are the scientists at Promega Biosciences in San Luis Obispo, CA.

[Promega Biosciences has replied to our emails to say that they no longer sell luciferase purified from wild fireflies—they now use only biosynthetic luciferase in the testing kits that they sell. However, Sigma-Aldrich Company, a large chemical company in St. Louis MO, still sells luciferase purified from wild fireflies. In the mid-1990's, negative publicity about firefly bounty hunting may have caused Sigma-Aldrich to lower their profile in this activity. The website and 2009 catalog for Sigma-Aldrich lists whole dessicated fireflies (1 gram for $26.50), firefly lantern extract, and firefly dessicated lanterns. A typical firefly might weigh 20 mg when dried, so collectors earn about 1.7 cents per firefly, while Sigma charges about 53 cents per firefly.]

The insects will be used in food safety testing to detect contamination of bacteria in food. With outbreaks of E. coli in food, there is an increased public concern for quick, accurate detection of bacteria. Material in the lightning bug is used to address "food fear," through testing to help ensure safety in things that people eat.

[It's true that firefly chemicals have been valuable in improving public health and in advancing medical knowledge. And for many years, the only way to obtain these products was to isolate these chemicals from wild fireflies. But for more than twenty years, scientists have been able to synthetically manufacture these chemicals in the laboratory, eliminating the need to harvest wild fireflies. Sigma-Aldrich also sells synthetic luciferin and luciferase: these synthetic versions are chemically equivalent to the chemicals that are isolated from wild fireflies. The synthetic versions can be used in all the same biomedical and food safety applications, without killing a single wild firefly.]

With the drought of 2007, the amount of insects caught last summer was down vastly. Scientists send out an urgent cry to collectors to catch enough insects to help them replenish their low supplies.

[This statement clearly affirms the fact that firefly populations can be threatened by environmental conditions, although the statement fails to mention that bounty-hunting can also decimate firefly populations. Was it scientists, or commercial interests that sent out an urgent cry? We don't know for sure, but we do know that synthetic equivalents of these firefly chemicals are available. In fact, the synthetic versions are cheaper and don't require killing wild fireflies.]

The enzyme luciferase is also used by some other scientists as a genetic marker tag to search for potentially revolutionary treatments for such presently incurable diseases as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cystic fibrosis and some cancers. Most of the bugs collected this summer will go toward public health concerns.

[This statement is quite misleading. The DNA that encodes for firefly luciferase is indeed widely used to find disease-causing genes. The scientific research mentioned uses genes that were first discovered in fireflies, but are now easily made in the laboratory without needing any additional fireflies at all!]

So have fun, help science, and earn money by collecting lightning bugs. For further information or questions, please write Firefly Project, c/o 122 Emory Ln., Oak Ridge, TN 37830 or call 1-888-520-1272. The e-mail address is fireflyproject@yahoo.com.

[The question we'd like people to ask the Firefly Project is: "Why are we still harvesting fireflies?"]

The Oak Ridger (Oak Ridge, TN) Posted Sep 9, 2008:

Area lightning bug collectors catch 465 grams this year

[In a few short weeks in 2008, one small Tennessee County alone harvested over 39,600 fireflies. Please note that one firefly weighs ~40 milligrams before drying, so each gram contains about 25 fireflies. Collection weights have been converted below into the number of live fireflies actually harvested.]

Responding to the call from scientists, Oak Ridge and area collectors in 2008 came forth to deliver 465 grams of insects[11,400 fireflies]. This was a drastic increase from the 2007 summer's sum of 55 grams[1,375 fireflies]. Oak Ridge swept Anderson County's top catching honors for 2008, according to a news release from the Firefly Project.

Elsewhere in the county, Oliver Springs netsmen captured second place with 296 grams, barely edging out 2008 Norris netters who delivered 293 grams[7,400 fireflies]. Lake City bug baggers captured fourth place honors with 266 grams, nudging out Clinton collectors who gathered 264 grams[6,600 fireflies]. The total collected in Anderson County in 2008 was 1,584 grams[39,600 fireflies], an increase from the 2007 summer's sum of 1,372 grams[34,300 fireflies].

Leading the way for Oak Ridge this year was Ginger Seeber ... who scooped in 200 grams of fireflies[5,000 fireflies] to rake in a check for nearly $85. Years ago, in the 1970s as a child, Seeber used to collect lightning bugs in Oliver Springs. This year responding to the need of scientists, Ginger dusted off her net and led Oak Ridge. In second place for Oak Ridge was Rita Smith ... who rallied forth with 109 grams [2,725 fireflies] to secure a check for over $46. Third place honors were earned by veteran catcher Eric Nolan ... who netted 95 grams of blinking bugs[2,375 fireflies] to nab a check for over $40. Meriting fourth place honors was Ezekiel Charles ... who garnered 61 grams[1,525 fireflies] to earn a check for nearly $26.

The top collectors for Oliver Springs this year, for the second straight year, were Jennifer, Kesler and Lauren Young ... who scooped in 172 grams of blinking bugs[4,300 fireflies] to rake in a check for nearly $73. They were followed by Andy Wright ... who brought in 124 grams[3,100 fireflies] for a check for over $52.

The hottest catcher in all of Anderson County was Lake City's Aaron Carden .... He and his family amassed the amazing amount of 266 grams[6,650 fireflies] to stash away a check for nearly $113. Clinton's top collector this year was Kimberly Lowe, granddaughter of Naomi Boley ... who netted 163 grams[4,075 fireflies] to earn a check for $69. Norris' finest was Mary Ann Toennisson ... who swept the skies and fields to get 188 grams of bugs[4,700 fireflies] and a check for nearly $80.

Scientists at the Promega Biosciences in San Luis Obispo, Calif., use the insects for public health safety testing of food.

[Promega Biosciences have stated that they have switched entirely to synthetic versions, and that they no longer sell any products harvested from wild fireflies. So who exactly is it that is buying all these fireflies?]

While collections are held on a summer by summer basis, it is possible that scientists will be needing more supplies next summer. For more information or to be notified of next year's collection, contact Firefly Project, c/o 22 Emory Lane, Oak Ridge, TN 37830; call 1-888-520-1272; or e-mail fireflyproject@yahoo.com.

[It's clear that firefly harvesting on this scale simply cannot be sustained without wiping out local populations of fireflies, and perhaps even causing some firefly species to become extinct.

There is no justification for continuing to harvest wild fireflies to extract their chemicals. Scientific research now permits the same compounds to be synthetically manufactured without killing any fireflies.]