In the still of the night: firefly tourism in Mexico
Raynald Harvey Lemelin, Pablo F. Jaramillo-López, Natalia López-Ocaña, Ek del‐Val
Abstract
Excursions to the estimated 55 firefly sanctuaries of Mexico have seen phenomenal growth in the past decade. Visits to three firefly entomotourism destinations in the state of Tlaxcala (Canto del Bosque, Piedra Canteada and Santa Clara), and one in the State of Mexico (Bosque Esmeralda) were made in 2017 and 2018. The goal of these visits was to observe current management approaches, and to develop visitor strategies aimed at mitigating the anthropogenic impacts on the firefly sanctuaries and on the fireflies. Considering the recent interest in firefly entomotourism by the IUCN Firefly Group, findings from this exploratory study are particularly timely as they can be used to inform the protection of fireflies and support appropriate entomotourism opportunities in Mexico.