Fireflies at Elkmont

It’s Time for the Firefly Shows! One of the most popular “shows” of the year will once again take place at the Elkmont Historic District in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Park is rolling out a special trolley service June 8-19 to begin a pilot project hoping to reduce the crowded conditions, while improving visitor safety and protecting park resources. The popularity of the synchronous light shows, a mating ritual of the fireflies, attracted more than 8,000 visitors last summer during the two week period of greatest activity, and this year more are expected..

“It’s a wonderful experience, but the congestion has taken away from the experience”, said Nancy Gray, park spokeswoman. Last year the parking area was jammed with 300 to 400 vehicles. Therefore, this year, visitors will have to ride a special trolley between Gatlinburg and Elkmont, riding with family and friends, and parking at off-site locations.

Elkmont is “home to a special species of firefly – or lightening bug – that flashes in unison. In 1992, Lynn Faust, a Knoxville resident who grew up working in and staying in the cabins at Elkmont, called attention to the fireflies after reading an article in Science News magazine describing synchronous fireflies in Southeast Asia.” The flashing synchrony of the bugs occurs when swarms of male fireflies surround a female. Beginning about 9:30 p.m., the flashes begin “randomly at first, then in synchronized flashes that last six seconds and then shut down for 10 seconds,” according to biology professor, Jonathan Copeland, of Georgia Southern University, in Statesboro, Ga. Copeland has studied the fireflies for more than a decade, and although he says Elkmont is not the only place where synchronous fireflies put on a show, this area draws the most visitors. Park personnel would like other areas to become as well known in the hopes that the pressure of the crowds and cars could be relieved in the Elkmont area.

Managers at the Park have stated that No parking will be allowed June 8-19, between 5 p.m. and midnight at the Little River Trailhead. This area is strictly reserved as a turn around for the trolleys and carpool drop-offs. Hikers can park here during the day.

The city of Gatlinburg will offer expanded trolley service June 9-12 and June16-19. Trolleys will run every 20—25 minutes between 6 and 11 p.m. and stops include the Sugarlands Visitor Center, Laurel Falls Trailhead and Elkmont. The rides vary from 25 cents to 50 cents and Park rangers will provide guided walks and will also hand out cellophane to cover flashlights so that the lights won’t interfere with the firefly synchrony.

CATCHING FIREFLIES FOR SCIENCE

Every summer, a lab in Maryland buys fireflies to use in tests for food safety and genetic research that could help in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and some forms of cancer. Decades ago, the lab realized Tennessee always led all other states in the number of collected fireflies, as the climate, the humidity, the vegetation and the “Volunteer Spirit” all combine to make collectors ready their nets for four weeks of catching fireflies in the last three weeks of June until July 4.

Dwight Sullivan is the local liaison for the research lab and he recounts growing up in Oak Ridge, TN. and catching fireflies as a boy. Now a California minister, he returns to Tennessee each year for four weeks to purchase fireflies from the collectors in Middle and East Tennessee. “It’s a great sport – not like catching a rabbit or a housefly, but a challenge, nevertheless,” he says.

This year the bounty on fireflies is at an all time high of 36 cents a gram, or about $10.25 per ounce for a fresh supply, which are delivered to local fire stations in frozen batches. Last year the top catcher in Knox County was William Sherrod of Mascot, who caught 774 grams of fireflies for a total of $273. Sullivan will set up his scales at Knoxville Fire Hall No. 16 on Asheville Highway, and wait for the bags of fireflies to start coming in. He said children actually have an advantage over adults “because their line of vision is on level with the insects hovering just above the bushes.”

“I look forward to this,” Sullivan said. “We have East Tennessee collectors that have been collecting for years. They’re likable, motivated and they come in all ages.” He fondly recalls a La Follette woman, “Vergie Sharpe, who collected fireflies with her three-legged dog until she passed away at the age of 82.”

The peak season is from now to about July 4. “Fireflies take about two years to mature, and actually live only about a week in the adult phase that flies around and blinks. Instead of going to an anonymous death, these fireflies are going to help people,” Sullivan said.