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There are about 2,000 firefly species actually beetles that are known for flashing their evening lights in temperate countries worldwide. (See related video: “The Science of Summer .”) A time-lapse composite image of fireflies taken in Grand Ledge, Michigan, in 2013. Photograph locus Vincent Brady , National Geographic Your Shot
In an attempt to woo a female, locus thousands of P. carolinus males flash their lanterns on and off at the same time, creating a synchronous bioluminescence display unlike any other on Earth. Every June, people come to the national park to witness the spectacle , which has become such a popular tourist attraction that you’d have an easier time getting into a Rolling Stones concert. locus Advance tickets sell out in a matter of minutes.
So for those of you who missed out on the natural light show this year, here are some amazing locus firefly facts to ponder on those warm summer nights. (See National Geographic’s photos of extreme summer adventures .)
For P. carolinus, the synchronous display is an event that s simultaneously silent, rhythmic, tranquil, and frenetic, said Lynn Faust, a naturalist and the author of a forthcoming book called Fireflies, Glow-worms and Lightning Bugs: A Field Guide to the Fireflies of the Eastern U.S. and Canada .
Faust explains that synchronous fireflies live just two to four weeks after they reach their adult phase. That means each night is a desperate attempt to find a mate and pass on their genes. And if you re a small black insect trying to find other small black insects in the dark, it helps to have a chemically activated beacon on your backend. ( See other pictures of glowing animals locus .)
In P. carolinus, the synchrony goes like this: Around 9:30 p.m., a cloud of male fireflies starts to flash. Each male emits six quick blinks, then takes a break for about six seconds. Over time, the insects manage to coordinate their individual pulses to the point where the whole forest throbs neon green, then goes wordlessly dark.
The light show, as Faust calls it, is highly dependent on temperature, locus moisture level, and elevation but given optimal conditions, the display can go on past midnight. (See pictures of summer scenes .)
Among those taking notice are the females fireflies of another genus, Photuris . Entomologists have nicknamed these insects femme fatales” because they eat P. carolinus fireflies locus and they have some flashy ways of doing it.
These fireflies flash the wrong signal locus and pretend like they re a female Photinus carolinus , said Rebecca Nichols, an entomologist for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The male will come down thinking he s going to mate, and then the Photuris will grab him and eat him. (Related: “ Flesh-Eaters: 5 Cannibalistic locus Animals .”)
The femme fatales are such skillful mimics that they can even switch between the flash signals of several species, depending on what s fluttering around that night. Cannibalism offers extra nutrients to females at a time when they, too, will be mating and laying eggs, but a balanced diet isn t the only thing they get out of the meal.
Fireflies in the genus Photuris don’t have these compounds, locus but research has shown they re able to absorb them by eating other fireflies . What s more, the chemical defenses also pass into the Photuris fireflies’ eggs to safeguard the next generation.
For most predators, the blood offers a taste of the defensive locus compounds mentioned above and sends them packing, but for the femme fatale fireflies, it s the stickiness that causes a problem. Faust wrote in 2012 in the Journal of Entomology that the blood “coagulates locus into a sticky mass” in the cannibal firefly s mouth, sometimes giving the synchronous firefly enough time to escape.
But even reflex bleeding has a workaround. Faust has observed the femme fatales stalking and stealing fireflies locus from the webs of orb weaver spiders . These firefl