I love 'em! Where I live they peak in early June, and I think we have only one species. Still a few around. I do recall doing a bit of research and learning that the grubs do prefer and survive better in moist soils. We had good rain last summer and fair rain earlier this spring and summer, so two years of remarkable display - like illuminated raindrops going up instead of down, at dusk.

Leenia, where I live on the Piedmont we have nothing but yellow lightning bugs, but used to spend a lot of time camping over the NC mountains. The species over there were very different, and equally magical. White lights, smaller and somewhat subtle, hovering in drifts on the outskirts of the campfire. And later in the summer.

Science be dammed! Lightning bugs will always evoke magic.