Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs by Lynn Frierson Faust

Faust’s goal, she writes, is “to bring out the inner naturalist in each of you.” The passion, conversational style, and exhaustive knowledge make the book appropriate for just about anyone, while its scope and level of detail qualifies it as a definitive guide for even an expert firefly hunter.

But it’s also more than that - lavish with extras and organized in beginner-friendly fashion. This book, the first-ever comprehensive firefly guide to eastern and central North American species, is in many ways a field guide. In this spirit of awe, Faust has given a true gift to amateur naturalists, backyard curiosity-seekers, and anyone else with an interest in these friendly, glowing creatures. When the scientists asked why she was so interested in glow-in-the-dark beetles, Faust writes, “the car rental lady, pausing for a moment, her eyes with a dreamy, faraway look, replied, ‘I guess it’s for the awe of it.’” They were visiting the area to study a famous firefly display, and the rental clerk shared her own story of a family camp out to experience the same thrilling beetles. She further hints that they’re “especially attracted to small clearings surrounded by rich, open forest.In the preface to her elegant new guide, 'Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs,' Lynn Frierson Faust, an independent researcher known as “The Lightning Bug Lady,” tells the story of how she and the rest of a team of researchers arrived at the car-rental counter at the Knoxville airport. In her field guide, Faust writes that synchronous fireflies usually peak in early June and are common among maturing hardwoods at elevations between 2,200 and 3,000 feet. In fact, the species lives all over the Southern Appalachians one simply needs to know when and where to look. It was long believed that the only synchronous firefly species were native to Asia, until Faust pointed out to researchers that she and her neighbors had been enjoying the synchronicity of P. For decades, these insects have drawn thousands of visitors to Elkmont in the Smokies.

The most famous is the synchronous firefly Photinus carolinus. If you don’t live in the woods, it’s worth leaving your lawn and garden behind and seeking out these varieties in their forest homes. Here in the Southern Appalachians, we’re lucky to have two of the most beguiling species. To view a wider range of firefly species, one must venture farther afield into the darkness of the woods.

Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs by Lynn Frierson Faust