Fireflies At Dusk

(timelapse photos of Photinus pyralis in flight. fly left, fly right from Wikimedia) 14 July 2026 Last night after sunset I sat on a park bench and watched fireflies (a.k.a. lightning bugs) in my city neighborhood. I could tell by their flash patterns that they were Photinus pyralis, the common eastern firefly, because the males glowed while ascending in a J shape. Females flashed from the tips of grasses to attract a mate. You can see both behaviors in this video by Radim Schreiber at fireflyexperience.org. 2011 video embedded from Radim Schreiber on YouTube The lightning bug’s flash is generated by a light-producing enzyme called luciferase. Close up the flash looks like lightning in a cloud. video embedded from Nikon Microsope Solutions on YouTube The combination of color, flash and pause pattern, and flight path are unique to each species(*). Notice how different the flashes are for this species, the cypress firefly. video embedded from Radim Schreiber on YouTube Watching…