A firefly species unseen by scientists for more than 40 years has turned up alive in a Delaware meadow, according to a newly published paper in the Journal of Lost Species.
Delaware State University entomologist Christopher Heckscher found Pyractomena similis between May and June 2026. The species was last documented in 1983 in the United States and Canada, and it had been listed as lost, meaning no one had recorded an observation of it for years.
Heckscher spotted the insect because of its flash pattern. He told Re:wild that the amber colour and long rhythmic pattern did not match any other firefly he knew in the region. The male’s flash usually runs 10 to 20 pulses in quick succession before it breaks and resumes.
After searching meadows in Maryland and Delaware, he found about eight to 12 of the fireflies flashing at Brandywine Creek State Park in Delaware. He confirmed the identification under a microscope. Scientists know the species typically lives in meadows near water, though Heckscher said that habitat is not terribly common.
Source: PEOPLE
