EST, and will close on May 1, 2023, at 8 p.m. In 2023, the lottery to see the synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park opens on April 28, at 10 a.m. How to see the Great Smoky Mountains synchronous fireflies The incredible flashing display is so popular that a lottery system has been established for obtaining the coveted parking passes required to attend. During the annual phenomenon, swarms of lightning bugs will light up the park at night. If you would like more information about this annual event, including how to enter the lottery for a vehicle pass, please see our Firefly Viewing Event page.The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is gearing up for its annual synchronous fireflies event-the largest gathering of synchronous fireflies in the Western Hemisphere. Started in 2021, this new system not only allows park staff to provide a more comfortable and enjoyable visitor experience, it is also helping to ensure that there will be fireflies for the future. To better protect firefly habitat from further damage and reduce overcrowding in the viewing area, the park implemented a lottery system modeled after the one that Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been using for their annual synchronized firefly event. The results of this work found that synchronous firefly activity had visibly decreased compared to neighboring locations, raising concerns that with visitation only likely to increase in the future, this trend would only get worse. The pandemic in 2020 gave park staff the opportunity to observe and compare synchronous firefly activity in both the viewing area and nearby locations that had seen little to no event visitors over the past three years. Concerns that this rapid increase in visitation would have negative long-term impacts on the synchronous fireflies and their habitat led the park to hold its first managed viewing event in 2017.īetween 20 an estimated 25,000-30,000 visitors came to see the synchronized fireflies. Word spread, however, and by 2016 large numbers of people were coming to Congaree to see them. They are:įor many years the synchronous fireflies at Congaree were something only a few people each year came to see. Males may synchronize where populations are large enough, producing three yellow flashes about every six seconds.Complete synchronization is unique ability that only three of all North American firefly species are capable of. Photinus knulli – Native to the southwestern United States, scattered populations of this species can be found in wet areas of the deserts of southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico.This species may be found in isolated pockets of the Appalachian mountain range from northern Georgia to New York, preferring more mature cove hardwood forests with small clearings containing little or no underbrush. Photinus carolinus – The famous synchronous firefly seen at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, males of this species typically fly 3-7 feet off the ground, producing a series of 4-11 yellow flashes, followed by a 6-9 second pause.They are also present (though uncommon) as far north as Delaware and Maryland. This species prefers to live on the edges of mature cypress/hardwood swamps and bottomlands, and are locally abundant across the southeastern United States. Males fly low to the ground, producing a quick flash every. Photuris frontalis – Also known as the Snappy Single Sync, these are the synchronous fireflies seen at Congaree National Park.Complete synchronization is unique ability that only three of all North American firefly species are capable of.
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