One of the most debatable bugs in Minnesota is officially back in Rochester for the summer. Thankfully, this bug isn’t scary and it really isn’t out to hurt anyone. Honestly, I don’t know what the real purpose is for this bug. I just know that it is back and that it has two different names.

Photo by Monisha Selvakumar on Unsplash
Photo by Monisha Selvakumar on Unsplash
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Most Debatable Bug Is Back for the Summer in Minnesota

Last night, I was sitting in my basement and smiled a little bit when I saw a light show up on my big patio door. It was about the size of a pencil eraser and I immediately knew that the lightning bugs were back. This is one of those fun bugs that most kids have happy memories of as we try to catch them and save them in mason jars. Yes, for some reason, we thought putting some grass in the bottom of the jar would help our new friends live forever as we brought the jar into the house to help light our room up at night.

Catching these bugs was a summer tradition and when my own kids were little, it was a tradition that I passed on to them.

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Are these bugs called “lightning bugs” or “fireflies”?

When I moved to Rochester, I was a little confused.  I grew up calling the bug a lightning bug but I started hearing other people talking about fireflies...and I had no idea what they were referring to.  I remember hanging out at Silver Lake in Rochester on the 4th of July night and watching kids catch the bright bugs and I heard a few parents praising their kids and saying, "Great job catching that firefly!".

That was my a-ha moment when I learned that those two words meant the same thing.

I did a little survey the other day to see what most people in Minnesota are using for a name.  The results are in and although many people say both names in our great state, the majority of people say 'fireflies'.  After a little bit of research on why we have two different names, I found a story and a map on businessinsider.com that shows most of Minnesota says "fireflies" and most of Iowa says "lightning bug".  You can see that here.

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What do you call the bug that has the butt that lights up?

I'd love to hear what you said growing up.  Let me know over on my Facebook page (Jessica On The Radio) or DM me on Instagram.

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