Fireflies, or we as rednecks from Alabama refer to them, lightning bugs, are the puppies of the insect world. Anyone exposed to a group of them as daylight disappears on a spring evening finds them delightful. If they happen to be synchronous, they can be giggle inducing.
This redneck from Alabama first learned of synchronous fireflies while watching a program about Smoky Mountains National Park. There was a segment about them in that program and I assumed that was it. Like so many things pertaining to the natural world, I was mistaken.
There are groups of Photuris frontalis much closer. Professor Joe Quattro, who sounds more like a Fantastic Four cast member than a professor studying tiny life forms, gave a presentation on those creatures recently at the Congaree Research Symposium. And Gills Creek Watershed executive director Bailey Parker not only attended and gave the show high marks, she also pointed out that there are several local places where these flying light shows can be found.
Quattro’s bachelor’s degree is from the University of Maryland and his master’s in fisheries management is from Frostburg State in western Maryland. Quattro remembers going seining with his father and grandfather as a young boy in Western Maryland. “I had absolutely no concept there were that many species of fish. I’ve been fascinated by fish since then. That’s what got me into it.”
He earned his PHD from Rutgers. While working at Stanford, Professor Quattro began job hunting and because he and his wife were from the South, and USC was near “lots of water, which means lots of fish,” the family moved to the Midlands and Quattro began studying creatures most of us barely notice.
Megan Wesley was a grad student working in Quattro’s lab and approached him about studying fireflies. Quattro had previously spent his career working on fish genetics but had done similar research on mosquitoes.
“Megan knew Congaree National Park and knew about synchronous fireflies.
She came to me and sold me on this project.” The project looks at levels of migration between populations, how large the effective or mating population is, and whether there is a bottleneck to that population, which affects their ability to travel and proliferate.
Wesley remembered catching fireflies as a kid but “fell in love with them” when a friend took her to the Congaree National Park to see the synchronous fireflies. Born in Virginia Beach, Wesley moved several times. Her father was in the military. When retirement came, the chosen place was Wetumpka, Alabama. She came to Columbia for a USC education and currently teaches at Busbee Creative Arts Academy in Cayce.
Sharon Kendrick did her undergraduate work in Marine Science at USC, and Quattro was her advisor. After graduating and moving toward grad school, Kendrick was offered a role in the firefly project by Quattro, and “jumped at it willingly.”
Wesley is comparing the genetics of Congaree fireflies to those at Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area in Tennessee, near Great Smoky National Park, and a site in Newberry, on private land. The study is trying to understand their range and looking for how close the different groups are genetically. This can help tailor conservation efforts. “I would like to preserve them and the more you know the better you can do that.”
Kendrick, the third member of this Firefly Power Triangle, has the hardest job. She studies firefly larvae, a really elusive creature. Fireflies spend around two years in the larvae stage and then become adults and party for the rest of their lives, which is usually only three weeks.
Quattro and Kendrick spent lots of time looking for larvae at Congaree National Park and found three. Some species have a lantern, so they can light up. There’s no concrete answer as to where the larvae live during their infancy. Some have even been found in the ground and under leaf cover, and a few have been found in trees.
One of the primary concerns, and the reason so much emphasis is being placed on larvae, is the focus on habitat. Until more is learned about the actual habitat of fireflies, and firefly larvae, we are guessing when attempts to improve their habitat are discussed.
There are concerns that feral hogs are disturbing the firefly habitat in Congaree, since they disrupt almost every habitat they live in, but nothing concrete has been found yet. Seems like eradicating feral hogs would be easier than it is. Every state that’s having a problem also has a large population of hunters and features many people who consume pork in various forms. Am I missing something?
Fireflies, synchronous or not, have been part of the lives of southerners and many others for generations. Their numbers, like the populations of all insects, is being reduced at an alarming rate. The studies being done on fireflies should have a positive effect on their numbers. More fireflies should have a positive effect on humans.
Positive, science-based efforts to save every creature in every ecosystem is a victory for every other living creature— especially human creatures.
For more information on Synchronous Fireflies, or the regular fireflies, visit www.nps.gov/cong/fireflies.htm.
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