Last week, a pretty moth on a flower outside the window caught this reporter’s eye. Closer examination confirmed the suspicion: It was a spotted fireflies, an invasive insect that New Yorkers are by order of scientists arrive mercilessly kill.
By now, it’s clear that the fireflies, which can wreak havoc on crops like grapes and apples, damage trees and cause discomfort when sitting outside, have embarked on an invasion of urban areas. their most powerful marketing since first appearing here in 2020. And while New Yorkers have committed the typical scarab beetle murder, rely on citizens as vigilant exterminators. Is not enough.
Here’s a partial list of things New Yorkers have seen fireflies do in the past few days: Crawl skyward through ninth-floor windows on Roosevelt Island. Hunted by day campers in Prospect Park, their bodies are placed in a contest. Sitting on the lapel of a well-dressed woman in a Midtown cafe. Hang out with the Frosé dispenser in the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art. Lying drenched on Rockaway Beach, seemingly engulfed by the waves. And brazenly occupy ledges, screens, trees and terraces across the five boroughs, sometimes evading multiple attempts to stomp in place.
Since fireflies, which are native to parts of Asia, arrived in the United States in 2011 – in a shipment of rocks, scientists believe – infections have been recorded in 12 states, including across the United States. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley and Western New York. Seeing each firefly, tracked by New York State Integrated Pest Management project, extended further. The spread brings bugs in the range of orchards and vineyards in Finger Lakes – something adult fireflies can damage by feeding on leaves and stems.
All of this begs the question: Is standing still the way to go?
Marielle Anzelone, a urban ecologist in New York, said the question is part of a larger conundrum about the role of individuals and governments in solving difficult environmental problems.
Just as asking individuals to recycle and drive less does not preclude the need for national and global government action to tackle the climate crisis and protect ecosystems, she said, Freelance bug catchers cannot return to the tide of fireflies on their own. In an ideal world, public agencies would do more to combat invasive species.
However, these agencies tend to be understaffed and under-resourced, and every little effort pays off.
“A complete reliance on individuals is not going to get us there,” Anzelone said.
“But maybe acting personally is one way to engage people,” she added. “Not so much about that individual’s carbon footprint or the three fireflies they kill in one summer. It’s about education and engagement and can turn them into callers to their council members to request more funding for the park department, or vote on local and national candidates for action. real climate action. “
Anzelone said Lanternfly, “inviting a lot of people to participate.” They’re easy to spot, they fly awkwardly and they show themselves among people, not just “in the woods – and you can do something about it,” she says.
Cities and state agencies have posted guide above how to determine insects (larvae look like ticks, while adults look like gray, spotted moths, with red often hiding behind their wings), how to avoid spreading them (check cars and outdoor equipment before traveling), how to document and report them, and how to buy or build Environmentally safe traps.
Joseph Borelli, a Republican City Council member from Staten Island, recently urged the city’s Department of Health and Parks to take action against flies. In letter First reported by Staten Island Advance, he calls them “a new threat to our ecosystem” that is “reproducing at an alarming rate” and scaring some residents, despite Although flies are not harmful to humans or animals.
But Mr. Borelli did not wait for the city agency to step in. On Saturday, in a park in the Tottenville neighborhood of Staten Island, he sponsored a free trap-making workshop.
Participation can get people thinking and acting in the face of broader threats, like other invasive species that invade bees and native plants they like, Anzelone said. There has been a growing movement among gardeners to plant pollinator-friendly species.
Some native plant advocates see a silver lining for an ongoing invasion: The ivy-foraging firefly, aka ailanthus, another fast-growing, invasive Asian species imported in the 1700s to drain marshes and shade street.
New York has a love-hate relationship with ailanthus, a symbol of strength in the classics.”Trees that grow in Brooklyn“And a fouler, more ambiguous botanical character in Brooklyn’s more recent novel,”Lonely Fortress”—and now, for the first time, a species can challenge it.
As for the killing of freedom, Ms Anzelone yesterday voted with her feet – or with her feet. She saw a firefly on the sidewalk in Brooklyn. She took a picture of it. Then she stepped on it.
“I did my own little part,” she said.
