Last week the NYTimes published an interesting article about fireflies. Or Lightning Bugs, as we called them in Georgia. Or Photinus greeni. Since the backyard is lit up, frustrating the photographer in me since I cannot catch the display in the camera, not in a meaningful way, I found it interesting to learn that the fireflies flashing in the air are all males. Down in the grass, the females are sitting and observing. They look for flash patterns of males of their own species, and sometimes they respond with a single flash of their own, always at a precise interval after the male’s. In a one acrea area, there will be hundreds of males, competing for 2 or 3 females. And this whole dance and lightshow only takes place in their last two weeks of life.

A photo of the synchonous fireflies of the Great Smokey Mountains, since I am unable to captue our local ones. (Credit)

UPDATE:

Got a picture at Surfside, at dusk. Long exposure: