Firefly Occurrences in Croatia - One Step Closer from Citizen Science to Open Data

Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems 20(2), 112-124, 2022 FIREFLY OCCURRENCES IN CROATIA – ONE STEP CLOSER FROM CITIZEN SCIENCE TO OPEN DATA* Helena Virić Gašparić1, Katarina M. Mikac2, Ivana Pajač Živković1, **, Bruno Krehula1, Matej Orešković1, Marija A. Galešić1, Pave Ninčević1, Filip Varga3, 4 and Darija Lemić1 1 University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Division of Phytomedicine, Department for Agricultural Zoology 1 Zagreb, Croatia 2 University of Wollongong, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, 2 Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions 2 Wollongong, Australia 3 University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, 3 Division of Plant Science Department of Seed 3Science and Technology 3 Zagreb, Croatia 4 Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding 4 Zagreb, Croatia 1 DOI: 10.7906/indecs.20.2.4 Regular article Received: 14 January 2022. Accepted: 14 March 2022. ABSTRACT Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), with more than 2 000 species in 100 genera worldwide, are a charismatic nocturnal species. Although popular in different cultures because of their association with warm summer evenings in childhood, fireflies are an under-researched insect. Like numerous other insects worldwide, fireflies have experienced declines in their distribution and abundance. Anthropogenic impacts and climate change are likely to influence their development, reproduction, and survival. A project called “Krešo Krijesnica” (eng. “Krešo the Firefly”), used a Citizen Science model of data collection, to determine where are the fireflies located and how abundant are they throughout Croatia. Citizen Science involves the participation of the general or non-scientific public in data collection so determining the basic demographic profile of the citizen scientists involved was also one of the project goals. During the first phase of the project (2019-2021), data on fireflies were provided by citizen scientists through a formal survey on social media (Facebook, Instagram). Phase two aims to open the fireflies’ datasets to the public through various open data portals. In the three years of the project, more than 16 000 records of fireflies were collected and analysed from over 1800 sightings. Descriptive statistics showed that the highest firefly population density was found in central Croatia, which is consistent with the greater number of people living in this area and thus a greater chance of firefly detection. Higher number pf female reporters were noted during the project. The dataset collected in this Citizen Science project presents a valuable source of information to the scientific community, especially in the field of entomology, conservation biology and ecology. KEY WORDS biodiversity conservation, citizen science campaign, fireflies, Krešo the Firefly, Lampyridae, Coleoptera CLASSIFICATION JEL: Q57 *This is the extended version of the abstract published in: Vujić, M. and Šalamon, D., eds.: Book of abstracts of the National Open Data Conference. University of Zagreb, Faculty of Traffic and Transport Sciences,*Zagreb, 2021. **Corresponding author, : ; +385 1 239 3948; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska 23, HR – 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia Firefly occurrences in Croatia – one step closer from citizen science to open data INTRODUCTION Insects are among the groups of organisms most likely to be affected by anthropogenic impacts and climate change, because of the direct influence these factors have on their development, reproduction, and survival [1-3]. Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) are among the most charismatic of all insects, and their spectacular courtship lit flights have inspired ordinary citizens, artists, poets and scientists alike. With more than 2 000 species in 100 genera, the worldwide diversity of lampyrids is impressive and includes both diurnal and nocturnal species [4-6]. They are true beetles that exhibit a distinct sexual dimorphism. For example, in Lamprohiza splendidula L. males are winged and fly while females mostly have only wing stumps incapable of flying [7]. Light organs are located on the underside of the body and light organ patterns differ depending on sex (Fig. 1). Fireflies, like numerous other insects, have experienced declines in their distribution and abundance worldwide [8]. Although they are widely known in society, especially due to the folkloric legends and association with warm summer evenings in childhood, fireflies continue to be loved and appreciated, despite it being an under-researched insect from a scientific viewpoint worldwide. Courtship in European lampyrids is simple and involves bioluminescent displays in which flying males are attracted to sedentary females that emit an uninterrupted bioluminescent glow [8]. Once females have mated, they generally cease to glow [8]. Both males and females of lampyrids are active for about an hour after sunset or until mating ends. There is variation in the glow patterns (i.e., continuous or intermittent) of Lampyris, Geoffroy, 1762 species males, with variation noted within species depending on the pattern and timing of display [9]. Figure 1. Male and female light organ patterns indicated as dark areas on the abdomen [9]. 113 H. Virić Gašparić, et al. FIREFLY SPECIES OVERVIEW Currently, 64 species of fireflies are known to occur in continental Europe [9; p.164-165]. The Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera [10] mentions the occurrence of eight species of lampyrids in Croatia: Lampyris germariensis Jacquelin du Val, 1860; Lampyris noctiluca Linnaeus, 1767; Lampyris zenkeri Germar, 1817; Lamprohiza germari Küster, 1844; Lamprohiza splendidula Linnaeus, 1767; Phosphaenus hemipterus Geoffroy, 1762; Luciola italica Linnaeus, 1767 and Luciola lusitanica Charpentier, 1825. Voucher specimens of the listed species are found in the Croatian Natural History Museum in Zagreb and are part of the collections of Đ. Koča, I. Novak, P. Novak, R. Weingartner, R. Mikšić, K. I. Igalfy, V. Redenšek and F. Perović. To date, there are no empirical data in Croatia, as no official surveys have been conducted or published for species present, and there is no checklist of Croatian lampyrids. Only recently have European Lampyridae experts gained access to these collections and reviewed them for accuracy according to current taxonomic standards and naming conventions [11-13]. Detailed empirical data on lampyrids in Europe are limited to a few recent studies detailing the basic biology and ecology of even the most common fireflies, primarily by a few notable authors in the field (e.g. [10, 14] and more recently [9, 11-13, 15-18]. Moreover, there is a lack of information on the distribution and species diversity of lampyrids not only for Croatia, but for the whole of southeastern Europe [11]. According to De Cock [9], four species of lampyrids are most common and widespread in Europe: L. noctiluca, L. splendidula, P. hemipterus, and L. lusitanica. Therefore (...truncated)