Night Lights

Fireflies prepare to set the dark hours on fire.

Written by Eugene Stockstill | Photo by Sumeet Kulkarni

If you’re from the deep South, you probably call them lightning bugs. Others say fireflies. They go by other names, too. Firebugs. Candle flies. Lamp bugs.

Whatever you call them, get ready, because their annual light show is just about to start. Fireflies show up at the end of May and show off for just a few weeks, and multiple

Mississippi organizations have traditions of going out of their way to make sure all y’all have a chance to see the spectacular displays of night lights.

Wall Doxey State Park in Holly Springs has been giving guided tours since 2023. In recent weeks, the park has been shut down in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern. So stay in touch with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (mdwfp.com) to find out whether the Holly Springs park will have tours this year or not.

The last three years, though, the tours have produced lovely results. Aimee Nezhukumatathil, an Ole Miss professor and bestselling poet, has helped with the tours in Holly Springs and at other national parks around the country. She says such events help people nurture a part of life that’s far too easy to lose in the busy-ness of the day, even in this part of the world.

“We had a couple who came from Hawaii to see the fireflies at the Smoky Mountains but couldn’t get on the waiting list, so they drove down here, and they said it was worth every minute of it,” Nezhukumatathil said. “I also had kids and teens say that was the coolest thing they saw in the forest ever, so that makes me so glad and hopeful they won’t ever forget it.”

The Mississippi Craft Center in Ridgeland hosts something every year called the Snappy Sync Soiree and Firefly Tours for the same reason: To give folks the opportunity to slow down and bask in that which you cannot put a price tag on.

“The first time I saw it, I really couldn’t believe what I was looking at,” Lordish Matheney, a state park manager, said. “It’s something amazing. The lights and how they flash, it reminds me of a church choir. I can’t even explain it.”

In case you cannot make it to an official tour somewhere, here are a few tips to help you create one in your own backyard, courtesy of the Mississippi State Extension Service.

• Reduce or eliminate using chemicals on your lawn.

• Turn off or eliminate any extra lighting you may have on your property. The light may interfere with the fireflies’ ability to communicate with one another.

• Plant low, overhanging trees or tall grass in your lawn to provide a space for them to rest and stay cool during the day before night comes around.

Mississippi is very much a haven for fireflies, and you may be among the fortunate ones who in times gone by made sure to have a Mason jar on hand so you could capture a few to study and admire during the dark hours.

Nezhukumatathil, well-known around the world as a poet of the natural world, said that fireflies point us to a precious reality too often taken for granted or ignored.

“As a woman of color, I’ve often felt both visible and invisible, and the natural world gives me another way to claim space,” she said. “Not through argument, but through care and witness and attention and knowing the names of the creatures and plants that live on this planet, in this country in particular. If we can keep noticing, keep tending, there’s still room to grow something gentler, together.”

Firefly Facts

Here are a few interesting facts about fireflies.

• The dazzling glow of the firefly is a chemical process called bioluminescence and is a part of a courting ritual.

• Fireflies are species of beetles, close relatives of soldier beetles. One thing that makes a beetle a beetle: hard coverings (known as elytra) over flexible wings.

• All fireflies are a part of the biological family Lampyridae.

• There are dozens of species of fireflies, some of which do not light up at night but can be seen during the daytime, pollinating flowers.

• The light emitted by fireflies is known as cold light, because it produces little or no heat.

• Little Blue Ghosts, Snappy Sync, Winter Firefly, Twilight Bush Baby, Shadow Ghost, Spring Treetop Flasher, Common Eastern Firefly, Flower Elf: These are just a few of the more colorful, off-the-wall names for fireflies.

• The Cypress Firefly was discovered at Wall Doxey State Park in Holly Springs.

• Most fireflies live only three or four weeks.

• The chemical that activates a firefly’s glowing is known as luciferin and is toxic. Twenty fireflies could provide a fatal dose to a human being.

• Firefly larvae are extreme predators, and some are cannibals that mimic glow patterns to lure unsuspecting males so they can consume them alive and obtain enough luciferin for children.

• The hotter the day, the faster a firefly flashes.

• The firefly population has been in decline in recent years.