Delaware State University entomologist and ecologist Christopher Heckscher rediscovered Pyractomena similis in a Delaware meadow between May and June 2026, according to a newly published paper in the Journal of Lost Species.

The firefly, part of the Lampyridae family, had last been documented in 1983 in both the U.S. and Canada and was formally considered a "lost species" — meaning no one had recorded an observation of it for years.

Heckscher keyed in on the insect because of its recognizable flash pattern: an amber-colored flash in a long rhythmic sequence that, he said, did not match any other firefly he knew from the region.

The find is remarkable not because the species recovered, but because so few people were looking.

According to People, research paper co-author Anna Walker, a species survival specialist for invertebrates at New Mexico Biopark Society, noted that of 28 firefly species considered lost — about 16% of known species — most are not lost because they have declined or are threatened, but simply because no one has searched for them.

Walker said the rediscovery of Pyractomena similis shows what to expect for other lost fireflies if researchers are willing to go out and look, and added that the vast majority could be rediscovered if resources were created to do so.

The identification rested on two kinds of evidence. Males of the species emit an amber flash in a pattern of 10 to 20 pulses in quick succession before the sequence breaks and resumes.

Heckscher, per the People report, searched meadows and fields across Maryland and Delaware before spotting roughly eight to 12 fireflies flashing at Brandywine Creek State Park in Delaware. He then confirmed the identification under a microscope by examining the species-specific genitalia.

The habitat matters too: the fireflies typically live in meadows near water, and Heckscher suggested the Brandywine meadow survived because it was allowed to grow naturally rather than being mowed or managed for livestock.

The rediscovery arrives alongside another reminder of how much biodiversity is overlooked.

In the U.S. and Canada, 69 firefly species are known but 48 have no data at all, the Journal of Lost Species paper noted, while the National Wildlife Federation reports over 170 firefly species across North America.

Walker emphasized that community science is a powerful resource, calling community scientists an irreplaceable help in understanding firefly fauna.

Separately, ua.news reports that scientists described Colobura cryptica, a new butterfly species in tropical forests of Central and South America that had gone unnoticed for over 200 years because it looks nearly identical to two related species — with DNA analysis and ultraviolet wing differences finally separating it from Colobura dirce and Colobura annulata.