A second grade class from Cumberland Elementary School in West Lafayette is asking state legislators to name the firefly as Indiana’s official state insect.

Maggie Samudio’s class was learning about the 50 states when one student asked why Indiana doesn’t have a state insect. The class decided to come up with a plan to change that.

Students have been writing postcards to State Senator Ron Alting and State Representatives Sheila Klinker and Randy Truitt. A small rally was also held May 6. Purdue entomology professor Tom Turpin was in attendance, giving information about fireflies.

An effort was previously made to name the firefly as the state insect in the 1990s, but the bill failed due to one state senator refusing to hear it. Cumberland students hope their attempt will be successful this time around.

“One senator just said no,” explained student Kayla Xu. “He wouldn’t say yes to it. Good thing now that he’s not a senator because if he was still, I guess, Indiana wouldn’t have one.”

Source: WLFI