What Is Lightning Bug Season

Information on fireflies lightning bugs including reasons on their decline plus firefly pictures facts and how to catch them.

What is lightning bug season.

T he great smoky mountains national park is gearing up for its annual synchronous fireflies event during which swarms of lightning bugs will light up the park at night. They are soft bodied beetles that are commonly called fireflies glowworms or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce a cold light with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. The tens of thousands of lightning bugs gather in swarms and flash in harmony as the entire forest alternates between light and darkness.

I swear there used to be a whole lot more of the little buggers when i was a kid. There is nothing quite like the sight of lightning bugs also known as fireflies lighting up the night sky during summer months. The once a year phenomenon is so popular that a lottery system has been established for obtaining the coveted parking passes required to attend. Some species of fireflies feed on other fireflies most notable is the genus photuris which mimics female flashes of photinus a closely related species in order to attract and devour the males of that species.

Fireflies not only light up childhood memories. This is definitely not the world s greatest video but if you watch you can see flickers on and off. Mild winters also mean a larger lightning bug population in your back yard since the young will have had an easier time surviving the cold. All the warmth from early summers and mild winters fools lightning bugs into thinking it s later in the season than it really is and so they emerge sooner.

I ve been so wrapped up in things i didn t even notice until tonight. There are about 2 000 species of fireflies worldwide with over 150 species in the u s. Fireflies also known as lightning bugs are part of the beetle family in the order coleoptera. Egg larva pupa and adult.

Larvae usually eat snails and worms. The lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetle order coleoptera with more than 2 000 described species. Like all beetles fireflies undergo complete metamorphosis with four stages in their life cycle. Fireflies are primarily carnivorous.

It s lightning bug season. Right here in the smoky mountains near the elkmont campground is the largest population of synchronous fireflies in the western hemisphere. Fireflies or lightning bugs.