Adeline Murthy was out in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains identifying frogs when she spotted a single glowing firefly floating by.

“My first reaction was like, ‘Oh look a firefly, how pretty,’ ” Murthy, Santa Fe County’s Open Space and Trails senior planner, said in a phone interview.

It wasn’t until her colleague Peggy Darr, who was out with her that night, told her that fireflies are a rare sight in New Mexico that Murthy realized she had stumbled upon something special.

These small glowing creatures have taken up residence at the Los Potreros Open Space — which serves as the backdrop for El Santuario de Chimayó.

They are a part of a newly discovered species that has not been scientifically named but is unofficially called the “Rio Grande flasher.” These luminescent insects have only been documented in a few places in New Mexico, primarily around the titular river.

There is no photo of this rare dragonfly in the article. That’s because they’re so rare there’s no photo PERIOD. And hey  guess why this rare dragonfly suddenly have the freedom to appear?

Firefly experts say they made their appearance thanks to the county’s conservation efforts, which involved removing cattle from the area and the protection of its beaver population.

These unsuspecting rodents dramatically improved the area’s ecosystem and created a natural habitat for the fireflies, which need a permanent source of standing water to raise their larvae.

Well of course it does. Who could have doubted it? Now we just need a video of this flasher. I’m very very curious.