Although not all fireflies restrict themselves to the dark, most of them do. Typically, fireflies prefer darkness to reveal themselves. They prefer to use their own bioluminescence to attract mates and mate with them. “If the insects compete with other lights, it will be hard for them to see each other, making it difficult for them to breed,” explains Martha Stewart. So the first and best thing you can do to attract fireflies is to turn off unnecessary lights.
If you’ve sprayed a whole can of pesticides or insecticides in your grass today, don’t be surprised if you don’t see even a single firefly glow during the night. The smell of these chemicals repels the twinkle-oozing creatures. Instead, they prefer something fragrant and aromatic, like flowers.
When fireflies are still in their larval stage, they are known as “glowworms.” These glowworms need damp surfaces and moist leaves to crawl and grow. If you rake away all the leaves, thinking that they are trash, these glowworms will lose their habitat. Many of them won’t even survive, per NWF. And if they don’t survive, they won’t be able to eat up the pests, snails, and slugs that invade your garden from time to time. They won’t be able to pollinate your flowering plants and sip their nectar.
Like every insect, fireflies need water. So, adding a water source will always be one of the main attracting factors. Added to the water itself, the sound of dripping and ripping water is a nice lure to woo these glowing jewels to set your garden ablaze in a shimmering shower. "These can be anything from a small plastic in-ground pond to a solar-powered birdbath," David Burrows, who works in saving pollinators, told Martha Stewart.
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