Our second water short has us searching for the mysterious Blue Ghost Firefly. This Firefly is found nowhere else in the world, but the Southern Appalachians and the largest population is in Western North Carolina. While all other species of firefly blink on and off as a mating ritual, the Blue Ghost emits a steady glow lasting from 30 seconds to a whole minute with a glow intensity so bright that they illuminate a circular patch of light on the ground beneath them. You can only see them from late May to early June when the males are looking for the females.
Blue Ghosts inhabit the hidden edge of our natural water world and remind us there’s still a mystery and wonder out there. We just need to get out there sometimes and find it.
Robert Osborne
Special Thanks to David Hart for the story idea and the Cradle of Forestry for the tour.
Transcript
Robert Osborne:
There are about 2,000 firefly species in the world and about 150 species in North America. At least 22 species are known to occur right here in South Carolina. Common firefly names remind me now of all the new craft beer names, all crazy. You have the Northern Ablaze Flash-train, the Twilight Bush Baby, the Sidewinder, the Slow Blues, the Black-Bordered Elf, the Texas Hookers, and finally you have the Heebie-Jeebies.
Robert Osborne:
The older I’ve gotten, the less I’ve noticed about fireflies. I suppose I’m not outside at dusk as much, and my mind is usually occupied on other things. This changed a couple of weeks ago. A coworker told me about seeing Blue Ghost fireflies in his own backyard. At that moment, I knew I needed to see them.
Robert Osborne:
My wife agreed to go with me. So here we are on a Tuesday night making our way up into the mountains, driving through the towns of Six Mile, Pickens, Pumpkintown on switchback roads into North Carolina. Past Brevard, we entered a wall of green as we got into the Pisgah National Forest. We were on the hunt for Blue Ghost fireflies.
Robert Osborne:
So what makes the Blue Ghost fireflies special? The Blue Ghost is found nowhere in the world but the southern Appalachians, and the largest population is in western North Carolina. While all other species of firefly blink on and off as a mating ritual, the Blue Ghost emits a steady glow lasting from 30 seconds to a whole minute, with a glow intensity so bright that they illuminate a circular patch of light on the ground beneath them. You only have a brief time to see them. You can only see them from late May to early June when the males are looking for the females.
Robert Osborne:
Phausis reticulata, or Blue Ghost, are the size of the grains of rice. Only the males can fly. The females have no wings and have a transparent body that is in a larva shape. Females depend on a moist leaf litter to survive. No leaf litter, no Blue Ghost. She dries out very easily, which makes it hard for them to recolonize if a forest is ever cleared or developed. Besides the leaf litter, the other critical ingredient for the fireflies is, you guessed it, the right amount of water. Annual rainfall at most of their known locations average 86 inches per year. Coves with streams or seepages are preferred over drier sites. Activity is the highest when moisture levels are high from recent gentle precipitation.
Robert Osborne:
As the sun is setting over the mountains, we make it to the Cradle of Forestry Visitor Center, deep in the Pisgah National Forest. I had booked a tour just to see them. After a short introduction, we were off following a trail into the darkness. I had not brought a flashlight. Was this a mistake? I could not remember the last time I had walked through the woods without a flashlight.
Robert Osborne:
After a short two minutes, we see one. Yes, it had to be. Then another. Then like some sort of Disney production, the whole forest floor began to move, and it was filled with small blue beams. Surreal. It looked like a scene from the movie Avatar. Eerie blue lights circled the forest floor. Okay, I had to admit it. This was cool. We spent the next hour and a half walking and watching the nighttime spectacle.
Robert Osborne:
Blue Ghosts inhabit the hidden edge of our natural water world and remind us there’s still a mystery and wonder out there. We just need to get out there sometimes and find it.
