HOME |
RSS | 
It looks like a scene from a fantasy movie, but these are actually fireflies! The Japanese-language blog at the link contains a set of amazing long exposure firefly shots by an unknown artist.
UConn Professor Andrew Moiseff has conducted research into why fireflies sometimes blink their lights in unison, and his discovery was interesting yet not surprising-males blink in unison to attract the attention of females. What is surprising, however, is that male fireflies appear to synch up with each other and blink in unison to cut down on female confusion, so she won’t have any trouble finding a suitable mate. In fact, females had an overwhelmingly positive response to the males that blinked in unison, and tended to shun the non-unison blinkers altogether, which proves that female fireflies don’t appreciate individuality.
Mid-June in east Tennessee means fireflies that flash in unison!
In 1995, scientists confirmed the existence of the Great Smoky Mountain synchronized fireflies, and have subsequently discovered other populations in the Congaree Swamp in South Carolina and other high altitude locations in the Appalachian mountains. As this curious phenomenon remained undiscovered for years, it is quite possible that there are other varieties of fireflies blinking in unison throughout the United States, perhaps even in your own backyard.
