What Is Lightning Bug Season

Fireflies also known as lightning bugs are part of the beetle family in the order coleoptera.

What is lightning bug season.

There are about 2 000 species of fireflies worldwide with over 150 species in the u s. Fireflies are primarily carnivorous. Information on fireflies lightning bugs including reasons on their decline plus firefly pictures facts and how to catch them. Lightning bugs in the garden are a visual treat for people who live near lightning bug habitats primarily damp areas east of the rocky mountains.

Right here in the smoky mountains near the elkmont campground is the largest population of synchronous fireflies in the western hemisphere. This is definitely not the world s greatest video but if you watch you can see flickers on and off. The tens of thousands of lightning bugs gather in swarms and flash in harmony as the entire forest alternates between light and darkness. Larvae usually eat snails and worms.

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. Like all beetles fireflies undergo complete metamorphosis with four stages in their life cycle. Fireflies or lightning bugs. I swear there used to be a whole lot more of the little buggers when i was a kid.

Egg larva pupa and adult. Fireflies eat other fireflies. 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. It s lightning bug season.

I ve been so wrapped up in things i didn t even notice until tonight. Attracting lightning bugs to your garden is definitely a good thing to do as unlike many other less desirable bugs these beneficial insects don t bite they aren t poisonous and they carry no diseases. Fireflies produce a cold light with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. 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.

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. There is nothing quite like the sight of lightning bugs also known as fireflies lighting up the night sky during summer months.