The Firefly's peak season ranges anywhere from the 3rd week in May to the 3rd week in June. It is however, highly dependent on previous and current weather conditions.
Note: There are nets and jars available at the cabin for your use. Enjoy!
When you get close enough, catch your fireflies using a net. Place the fireflies you catch into a clear jar with a lid that's been pierced to let in air. You should also place a moistened paper towel inside to keep the air in the jar humid. This way, your fireflies will have air to breathe and won't dry out.
It's often more effective to work in pairs when catching fireflies, with one person to hold the jar and another to use the net. Be sure to use care when catching them; fireflies can be fragile.
Use your own light to attract fireflies. Since fireflies communicate using their light, you can sometimes attract them by using a flashlight of your own. Pay attention to the light patterns that the fireflies are emitting, and copy them by switching your flashlight on and off.
- Consider placing a blue piece of paper over your flashlight to turn the light blue. Scientists have found that fireflies respond better to blue light than regular lights
Turn off your outdoor lights. Since they rely on their light patterns for mating, fireflies are more attracted to darkness. Turn off your outdoor lighting, such as porch lights and walkway lights, to draw in more fireflies.
Let Them Go
Once you have a jar of fireflies, don't keep them for longer than a day or two. Let them go, preferably at night because that's when they're most active and able to avoid predators. If you keep them for longer, the fireflies are likely to die.You'll be able to enjoy these fascinating creatures without causing any harm. (Information from firefly.org)
How does a Firefly Produces Light?
Of course what makes fireflies so interesting is the same thing that can be found in select marine plants and animals such as plankton, jellyfish, shrimp and fish, or in some terrestrial species such as fungus, springtails, glowworms and gnats: Bioluminescence, the ability for organisms to create "cold" light chemically. A plant or animal with Bioluminescence can give off light continuously, because of physical stimulation, instinctively, or what appears to be at will. The "cold" light produced through Bioluminescence is not warm like a light bulb because the production of light is wasting as much as 90% of the valuable energy, but virtually 100% efficient, thus studying Bioluminescence is a valuable step toward a brighter future for the mankind and our environment. The Bioluminescent light created by the fireflies is actually made by combining a chemical inside their abdomen with and enzyme and exposing this bioluminescent compound to air. The organ which gives off light is called the "lantern" and it is located on the bottom of the fireflies at the tail end of the beetle. There are nerves that trigger the release of a chemical neurotransmitter called octopamine which starts the luciferin reaction that produces light. The chemical reaction takes place in light cells in the lantern called phagocytes that have access to oxygen through cylinders. The cylinders are composed of trachea that are surround with phagocyte cells so that oxygen passed into the body can activate the most surface area of light producing cells and thus produce the most light. The chemical reaction to make the firefly bioluminescence is done in this 3 steps technical explanation:The firefly has an enzyme luciferase which catalyzes the formation of a luciferin and ATP complex known as luciferyl adenylate.This complex is oxidized by oxygen, leading to the production of a cyclic peroxide that eventually becomes high-energy oxyluciferin which is in an excited state.By relaxing the oxyluciferin back to the ground state, energy is released as light.
More information can be found at: Your smokies webite
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