Objectives: The nodes in a wireless sensor network are extremely energy limited. Often, there occurs transmission of similar sensed data from adjacent nodes of a geographical region with high sensor node density. Network lifetime of the sensor network can be improved by grouping such closely packed nodes using the node locations obtained from a localization algorithm, thereby eliminating redundant data transmission. Methods: This paper employs the Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) for node localization and the performance of this method is compared against alternative localization techniques, viz. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Harmony Search Algorithm (HSA). Findings: The lifetime improvement of the proposed Proximity Grouping Algorithm (PGA) method is compared with that offered by conventional Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) method. Application/Improvements: The proposed PGA method shows 35% better network lifetime improvement, based on the residual energy of the network.