Eh, what fireflies can do is kinda the base level of the bioluminescence 'skill' of the evolutionary tech tree.

https://gizmodo.com/glowing-deep-sea-squid-have-a-complex-form-of-communica-1842472534

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DE89YY7zCio

Humboldt squid skin is bioluminiscent, but roughly akin to a flexible lcd or oled screen, with many different 'pixels' capable of being set specifically.

They likely have the ability to communicate by basically displaying different patterns of different colors and brightnesses and translucency, sorta like a human walking around with a sandwich board made of lcd screens, which they can control with a phone app.

They may very well have an entire language they can convey via sequenced or at least specific patterns.

Note: No clue if you can actually trace bioluminescence in fireflies and certain cephalopods to the same common ancestor or if its completely different, independent evolutionary occurances, but my point is there are certainly more and less complex and utility granting forms of bioluminescence.

"I cast 200 μg Luciferin."

[Dice noises]

"Nat 15. Your abdomen glows and dims slowly and rhythmically."

Nah, it legit is, though. Just because someone or most someones understand how something happens doesn't mean it isn't magic anymore. It just means that we have a hard magic system. We understand our magic so well that we've stopped seeing it as magical, but if you take a step back and take a look at the big picture it becomes clear that the world is magical, and everything around us is this amazing, often confusing, incredible tapestry of Wonder and awe. The world has just ground us down so much that we feel like wonder is strictly for children, that we're not allowed to feel wonder anymore. Embrace the magic. Even if you know how it works.

Spelling it without help is also magic, so I hear ya.

Magic exists but we call it science

Saw this just the other day here...

The yard spray folks come around every spring offering me a deal because they are spraying all my neighbor's yards. I'm the only yard with lighting bugs in the neighborhood.

A Silent Spring was supposed to be a warning, not a how-to.

We've been living at the same house for about a decade. We have a tiny tiny creek in our back yard with some unmowed area around it. Our yard is chemical free and we have tons of pollinators. We saw single digit numbers of lightning bugs for nearly the time we lived here. Never more than two a night and most nights none showed up.

The past few years we've seen an uptick. Not loads, but they seem to be making a small comeback. At least in our yard.

I lived most of my life in areas where fireflies were around, but they weren't the bioluminescent type,

The house I moved to about 5 years ago is in the woods and 3 months out of the year these guys buzz around my front yard and I've even helped a few out of the house.

They never fail to bring a smile to my face.

Man, imagine seeing a field of fireflies IRL for the first time, if you had never heard of them before! That would be pretty mindblowing.

Fireflies is a much cooler name though.

In German, they're Glühwürmchen ("glow worms").

When ten thousand fireflies

Seeing how Australians react to kangaroos like they're just slightly more dangerous deer is so jarring

I hope you get many beautiful snowfalls in your life yet

They have distinct blinking patterns as well. IIRC observing the pattern is one of the ways used to classify them.