Fireflies: The Fab Four

The Great Smoky Mountains are home to 19 species of firefly and we saw four different species. The "backyard variety" come out first and make a "J" pattern when they fly. They fly close to the ground. At around 10 pm the synchronous fireflies warm up. The males fly above and synchronize their blinks in order to attract the females that nestle on the forest floor. They blink for 6 seconds and then all stop at the same time. The forest goes black for 6 seconds. We noticed that they got more in sync as the night wore on. The predator fireflies fly high overhead and try to emulate the synchronous ones in order to fool the females. Another theory about why the synchronous fireflies synchronize is so that the females are not fooled by other species that just can't seem to get their timing right. The blue ghost fireflies then emerge and, instead of blinking, stay lit for about 6 seconds. They emit a bluish light and, because they stay lit, also leave a long ghostly trail. We also saw a rare wave pattern in which the fireflies perform a pattern of blinks similar to a stadium wave. The lights start blinking from one direction and then move in a wave toward the other direction.