Seeing fewer fireflies this year? Here’s why, and how you can help.

It’s firefly season in the Blue Ridge. 

As the sun goes down, they begin to blink and glow along the water, in the trees, and across open fields. Some species twinkle in unison, others off and on. One of nature’s loveliest light shows enchants onlookers of all ages, especially in the Smoky Mountains, which is home to about 20 percent of the 100 or so species found in the United States.

But many of those who have long delighted in this essential feature of a humid East Coast summer say something feels different.