Marsh Flicker

Pyractomena dispersa · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Lampyridae

Also called: Wiggle Dancer, Long-range Firefly

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Marsh Flicker
Photo: Lindsey G., CC BY

The marsh flicker lives in wetland areas. It occurs in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in wetland habitats.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Native to North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 21 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Utah, Colorado, Ohio, Massachusetts, Nevada, Maine, North Carolina, Idaho.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Marsh Flicker photo 2
Photo: Lindsey G., CC BY
Marsh Flicker photo 3
Photo: Dan Vickers, CC BY
Marsh Flicker photo 4
Photo: Lindsey G., CC BY
Marsh Flicker photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Same family (Lampyridae)

Common Eastern FireflyCommon Eastern FireflyPhotinus pyralisWinter FireflyWinter FireflyPhotinus corruscusNuisance, not dangerousBlack FireflyBlack FireflyLucidota atraEuropean Glow-wormEuropean Glow-wormLampyris noctilucaSpring Treetop FlasherSpring Treetop FlasherPyractomena borealisDark FireflyDark FireflyPyropyga nigricans

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyractomena_dispersa

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.