Observation	Location	Species	Season start	Season end	Notes
P.Rorich	Kyogle	?	20-10-2009		Message: I have recently moved to a property in Eden Creek outside of Kyogle in NSW. We have had a number of fireflies active in the evening over the last 6 weeks or so.
A.Johanson	Mudgeeraba	Atyphella Similis	16-08-2010		Message: We live in Mudgeeraba and for two nights now we have seen fireflies around the house! Most peculiar
S.Johnston	Tallai Range. Mudgeeraba	Atyphella Similis	23-08-2010		Message: Were very surprised to find fireflies at our home in Tallai Qld 4213, for the first time tonight!  We have lived here for 4 years and were amazed.
A.Smith	Tyalgum in Northern NSW.	Atyphella Scintillans / Similis ?	1-09-2010		Message: I have a farm 4 km east of Tyalgum in Northern NSW. It is rugged terrain but has a 1km frontage to the Oxley River. Every year for the last 30 years we have seen fireflies in the first week of September. Some years there are millions and other years only a few such as this year. They are always gone by the 7th September. Thought you might be interested.
Bren	Valla NSW	Atyphella Scintillans	13-09-2010	28-09-2010	Message: From Valla on the NSW mid north coast. Fireflies this evening 13-09-10 at dusk probably around a 100 or more flashing around our block which is very rainforesty.
Glennis	Upper Orara NSW	?	10-09-2010	13-09-2010	Message: Hi I live in Upper Orara (west of Coffs Harbour) From the 10th -13th September we had fireflies on our property. We were not here this time last year so don't know if it a common occurrence here. It was a magical experience.
Jason	Jiggi NSW		15-08-2010	30-09-2010	I live near Jiggi 2480 Northern NSW we are at 300m, start here mid August, very many, can last to October . The wing cases are all dark though.
Joe	Highland Caving Group. Australian Speleological Federation-Vice President	Atyphella flammans	April/May 2011		On a trip to Paronella Park at Mena Creek on the evening of May 6th I noticed a large number of fireflies just above the waterfall. They were all blinking which caught my attention. I managed to catch a few photos of the insect so can provide these if needed. Hope this helps. Joe See Joe's caving pics
Fiona	near Fleahy's reserve	Atyphella Similis	15-08-2011		A friend of mines place backs onto Fleahy's wildlife park at Burleigh Heads and on Saturday night I saw fire flies, don't know if they are common to this area, just thought I'd pass on this sighting Regards Fiona
Jane	Sawtell NSW	??	30-08-2011		Hi, thought you might be interested in our recent siting of large group of fire flies. We were holidaying last week at Boambee Bay Resort, near Sawtell NSW, while walking to the local cafe for dinner we were amazed to see the beautiful twinkling lights of the fireflies. It may interest you as it is easily accessible by car or foot. Not sure if this was a once off appearance or not.  Yours sincerely  Jane
Andrew	Beaudesert Shire	possibly Atyphella Scintillans	24-09-2011		Just wanted to let you know, we were camping at Andrew Drynan Park on the Lions Road (Running Ck), and were amazed at how many fireflies we saw. This was the first time we have seen fireflies, so it was very exciting. In 2 hours we would have seen approx. 20-30. The weather was still and had light rain on Saturday night. I hope this info is of use to you and would be great to hear any feed back from you Regards, Andrew
Cheryl	Albany Creek Brisbane	Specimen posted here and identified as: Atyphella Scintillans	26-11-2011		Message: Hello, I live at Albany Creek & at the moment have 15 fire flies in my garden. 4 yrs ago we found a couple and every year it has doubled. They are beautiful. Very rare I believe. Regards
Andrew	Hunter Valley		27-11-2011		Message: Hi there, I wanted to know if any species are native to the Cessnock area of the Hunter Valley in NSW. I've never seen any fireflies before but tonite I saw at least 2 separate ones. Hope to hear from you soon.
Sue	Woolgoolga, N. NSW	??	30-08-2010	15-09-2010	Message: Hi, Last year (2010) they were particularly numerous, a slightly smaller number this year and slightly later (late August through to about mid September). We live in Woolgoolga, N. NSW in a wooded rural res subdivision. They seem to congregate on my block as we still have a lot of tree cover. I'll be sure and make more detailed observations to send you next year. I haven't kept a specimen though I gather it's odds on that they are A. Scintillans. I'll collect one next year.
Derek	Nome	??	10-01-2012		Message: Hi, I have just returned from a 5 week stay in Nome, near Townsville.On two successive December evenings at around 11pm I observed, on the first occasion, a flying firefly which alighted in a nearby bush flashing and the next night a solitary female on the verandah at our feet remained flashing for over an hour. Seeing these creatures was probably the most awesome event of my holiday. Thank you for your site and its wealth of information. regards....derek
Cheryl	Albany Creek Brisbane	possibly Atyphella Scintillans	14-10-2011	01-12-2011	Hi Garry I just went outside to put the bin out and to my absolute delight found 5 more fireflies, thought you might find this interesting that they are still around.  Hopefully we’ll have so many next season I can save on electricity.  Luv them they are so pretty.  It’s so errie I write a children’s book on a frog with fireflies in the story and 12 months later they are at our home, spooky.  Thought the life span at our place would help your research, this makes it between 6 and 8 weeks I’m guessing, thanks for sharing the botanical names I find it all so fascinating.  Cheryl
Geoff	New Beith Forest Greenbank Brisbane	??		06-01-2012	Message: Hi , just a quick note to let you know I live at New Beith Forest and we where visited by two Fireflies last night in our entertainment area one was defiantly a male as he was the only one blinking .i noticed them around 7 pm and he was still blinking around 10.30 pm .i have never seen them before so it was quite interesting. i hope this bit of info helps your research.. Regards. Geoff
Prue	Hazeldean, via Kilcoy, Qld 4515	??		22-01-2012	Message: We had two fireflies on our bedroom window screens on the night of 22 January 2012. Have not seen them anywhere in our area before. They were on the screens for an hour or so. Hoping we see more of them.
Marina	Tewantin Qld.	Atyphella atra	26-01-2012		I live 200 meters from the edge of Lake Doonella - Tewantin Qld. last night to our surprise we had this tiny green neon light flying around in our bedroom so I tried to take some photos of this little firefly (about 5mm)     click the image for larger view
Carsten	Tanah Merah Brisbane		10/02/2012		At 8.32pm have observed a firefly outside a window in suburban Tanah Merah in Logan City QLD, 3rd sighting in 7 yrs. is this common?
Jan	Doonan	??	14-02-2012		Message: For research purposes I wanted to let you know that I had a firefly in my home at Doonan last Tuesday night. Absolutely fascinating. I watched it for a short time before it flew into another room. Our home is situated on a hill overlooking state forest. I was wondering if you have had sightings in this area previously.
Alicia	Maleny area		22-02-2012		Message: I've just found your site and hoping to contribute to your research ... For the past three nights we have had fireflies in our bedroom at night. A few weeks ago we again had male bugs in our bedroom and a female on the ground in the adjoining ensuite. Our property is a 13 acre land for wildlife property in Diamond Valley (Sunshine Coast hinterland towards Maleny). We've had bugs show up in our room / house for a number of years but unfortunately haven't paid attention to dates in the past. We'd be keen to be more involved in your research - look forward to hearing from you and receiving a return email address so we can send a pic of a dead bug we found in our room. Thanks. Alicia
Glenda	Caboolture	possibly Atyphella Scintillans			Subject: Sightings  Message: Hi, I just think fireflies are wonderful beautiful things and a few years ago (approx 5) I saw about an area of 5 square metres lit up with fireflies near where I live in Caboolture. Just wondering if you know when they are likely to return? Is it the same time every year?
Peter	NSW	possibly larvae of Atyphella Scintillans	27-04-2012		Subject: firefly larvae Thanks for the very good photo Peter, it makes it so much easier to identify the subject. click the photo for larger image Message: I have recently been to Peacock Ck near Bonalbo and have seen a luminous insect that may be a firefly larvae I would like to send you a photo if possible.This insect was in grass around the edge of the campground. Dull glow, not bright.

G.Maguire
Springbrook Research Centre.

External References:

Australian Biological Resources Study (ELATEROIDEA:)

Ballantyne, L.A. & Lambkin, C.2000   12 31: Lampyridae of Australia (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae: Luciolini)

Ballantyne, L.A. (1968). Revisional studies of Australian and Indomalayan Luciolini (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae). Univ. Qld Pap. Dept. Entomol. 11(6): 105-139

Lawrence (1982)
Firefly larvae have photic organs that produce light. It is generally accepted that firefly larvae use their luminescence as a warning signal to possibly communicate to potential predators that they are unpalateable due to defensive chemicals in their bodies. To support this hypothesis, firefly larvae tend to increase the intensity of their glow when disturbed.
The larvae are elongate, flattened and somewhat narrowed anteriorly and posteriorly. The thoracic and abdominal tergites are sometimes laterally expanded to form projections as in Atyphella. The head is small and retractable and usually concealed by the pronotum. The mandibles are curved and perforate. Abdominal segment 8 bears a luminous organ, segment 9 is terminal and 10 has a holdfast organ consisting of several eversible, asperate, tubular filaments (Lawrence 1982).