The number of Aquatica ficta at a park in Taichung’s Taiping District (太平) has multiplied due to efforts by local authorities to boost the species, firefly enthusiast Lan Sen-pin (藍森彬) said on Thursday.
The Taichung Bureau of Construction in 2016 launched a project to build a firefly eco-park at the Taiping Plant Nursery.
The city asked Lan and firefly experts to participate in the project.
Lan said he and Hou Shui-ho (侯水河), a member of a community development committee, last year worked to restore the habitat, water quality and soil of a seedbed at the park.
By the beginning of May, they had counted more than 30 fireflies flying over a pond and a stream in the park, he said.
On Saturday last week, they counted more than 100 Aquatica ficta — which are endemic to Taiwan — for the first time since their project began, he said, adding that there were more than 200, with the peak in the local population to end today.
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