LIST: How many different species of firefly can be found in Virginia?

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — There are nearly 180 documented species of firefly in the United States and Canada, and you can find almost 30 of them lighting up Virginia’s nights.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation , an international nonprofit with a focus on protecting invertebrates and their habitats, created a “Firefly Atlas” to document all things firefly.

This unique little beetle is reportedly a key member of food webs and can even be a great indicator of environmental health, according to the society.

The term “firefly” covers a few different kinds of insect — the flashing “lightningbug” many of us know, but also day-time dark fireflies who do not produce light and glow-worms.

According to the Xerces Society, the day-time fireflies use pheromones instead of light to communicate and the glow-worms’ females use light to attract males, which usually don’t light up, themselves.

Within the atlas, the Xerces Society lists all 176 species and subspecies of firefly within the U.S. and Canada. Of those 176 species and subspecies, 29 have been documented in Virginia.

Keep scrolling to learn a bit about each one.

The Firefly Atlas lists 22 of Virginia’s 29 species as flashing fireflies. Of the remaining seven, six are noted as day-time dark fireflies and there only one glow-worm type: the Phausis reticulata.

Only 33 of the total 176 species and subspecies of firefly are noted to have flightless female fireflies, with an additional five species marked as “sometimes,” “presumed yes” or “presumed no.”

Of Virginia’s 29 species of firefly, just one of them — the Photinus scintillans — is noted to have flightless female fireflies, though the Pyropyga nigricans is marked as “sometimes” having them. The Pyropyga nigricans are notably the only species in the Firefly Atlas marked as such.

If you’re interested in learning more about fireflies, or if you’d like to report a sighting of your own, you can do so on the Firefly Atlas’ website .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRIC ABC 8News.