Firefly Hotspots Identified In Bengaluru
Researchers from the Environment Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), Bengaluru, have identified 12 firefly hotspots in the city.
Congregations of the fireflies have been sighted on the campuses of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), GKVK and Sambhram College, Jarakabandi State Forest in Kammagondahalli, Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Forest Nursery at Hebbal Tank, Hessaraghaatta Tank, Bannerghatta National Park, Kaggalipura, Nandi Hills, Art of Living ashram, and H Cross.
Importance of firefly
Fireflies are ecologically crucial as they are indicative species of climax ecosystems which are systems operating at their peak levels.
The most productive systems on the planet, these include ecosystems like mangroves, tropical forests and wetlands.
The lifecycle of these enigmatic beetles is intertwined with the elements of other kinds of ecosystems and they act as prey as well as predators.
In the Jarakabandi state forest, Karnataka for example, fireflies extend for about 4,000 hectares.
Fireflies are economically important too as they spend 90 per cent of their lives as larvae in the soil feeding on soil arthropods and keeping the population of some pest species under check.
Concerns
There was a consensus among the forest officials that there is a decline in the population of fireflies in urban, semi-urban and rural areas in Karnataka.
Fireflies are not legally protected in India and their population is drastically depleting.
Pollution and conversion of wetlands for other land uses have led to the destruction of habitats of fireflies leading to a decline in their population.
Other factors like light and environmental pollution and climate change too contribute.
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