Researchers publish first-of-its-kind checklist on fireflies in India

Researchers have brought out a first-of-its-kind checklist of fireflies in India by putting together data from more than 260 years of scattered scientific records from 1881 to 2025.

A study published in the Zootaxa journal on March 10 documents 92 species across 27 genera, with more than 60% of them endemic.

According to the authors of the study, many of these species were described in the 1800s and have never been studied again in modern taxonomy, leaving large gaps in understanding the glowing insects. 

Absence of modern literature

The paper titled ‘A checklist of fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) from India’ was authored by Parvez, Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy, Oliver Keller, Devanshu Gupta and Amlan Das. 

The researchers note that while there have been attempts to build research on firefly taxonomy, the results have been fragmented so far. Parvez, lead author of the paper, notes that more than 50 species have not been recorded again from India since their original descriptions.  

“In light of the lack of accessible resources for the Indian fireflies, a literature survey was taken to produce a modern checklist of species from the subcontinent. This checklist of the Lampyridae of India is presented as a first step to remedy the situation, and to provide researchers with a resource to conduct research on fireflies,” reads the study. 

Across geographies

The checklist was prepared by sifting through documents from Zoological Record, Scopus, Biological Abstracts, Google Scholar, PubMed, ZOBODAT, Research Gate, Biodiversity Heritage Library, and the Lampyridae of the World catalogue. 

It provides names of species, names of scientists who documented them originally and subsequently, years of documentation, and geographies in which the species are found. The occurrence of fireflies was found in 22 States, including one Union Territory, and it was found that several species occurred across geographies. 

“The Western Ghats has the highest occurrence of firefly species at 25.33%, followed by the North East, Gangetic Plain, Coast, and Deccan Peninsula at 22.66%, 17.33%, and 13.33%, respectively. The Trans-Himalayas and Himalayas each have 1.33% of fireflies in their zones, while the Islands have 2.66% of firefly species. Desert and Semi-Arid were the zones where no fireflies have been recorded,” reads the study. 

Obstacle for research

According to Parvez, the insufficiency of modern literature on fireflies has been a major stumbling block for researchers who have attempted to study the insects. 

“In taxonomy, when the literature is limited, even if you have collected a species, it is hard to identify them or tell if it is a new or existing species,” he explains, adding that one solution is to compare them with the collection in the London Museum which hosts a large number of specimens of fireflies found in India. 

“During the colonial period, the British collected a lot of firefly specimens from India. But when they left, they also took all possible specimens with them. The majority of them are in the London museum today,” Mr. Parvez explains, adding that this comparison, however, is a time-consuming process as receiving details from the museum takes up to a year. 

He hopes that the new checklist will become a foundational document for future research on fireflies in India. 

Arduous process

It took close to three years for the scientists to compile the checklist.  

“There would be situations where different scientists have described the same species with a different name at a different time. They all had to be brought together in one place. There were also times when authors misplaced certain species within India. These had to be cross-checked, and the wrongly listed ones had to be omitted,” Mr. Parvez noted. 

The team also had to overcome language barriers and alternative spellings, especially in older documentation.  

“For example, in French documents ‘Indie’ would have been written instead of ‘India’. Or someone would have just written IND. So, we had to check if this actually stood for India, if the same researcher referred to the same spelling in his other papers also, if he was present in India during that period and so on,” said Mr. Parvez. 

Critical for conservation

According to Mr. Parvez, the next target is to bring out a picture-based field guide of fireflies.

“Research is important because fireflies are declining at a rapid rate due to light pollution and urbanisation. Their conservation is important and research is critical for that,” said Mr. Parvez 

Published – March 10, 2026 09:42 pm IST