Watch: A Gorgeous Sea of Fireflies Synchronizes With LED Lights

Fireflies (you might call them “lightning bugs”) are known for putting on one of summer’s best natural light shows, but usually their displays are random and serene. They don’t bring to mind an orchestrated stage spectacular. That all changes with a little coaxing and a particular kind of self-illuminating insect.

In the video below, Robin Meier and Andre Gwerder captured an experiment they staged with synchronous fireflies in Thailand. In that country’s mangrove forests, they cajoled a sea of wild Pteroptyx malaccae to sync up with flashing, computer-controlled LED lights. Adjustments in the human-made and -operated lights caused the flashing patterns produced by the fireflies to change as well, creating one breathtaking show. According to Meier, the experiment, titled “Synchronicity,” was designed as an exploration of free will and the interplay of a machine with living organisms in the natural world.

Synchronous firefly species in the genus Pteroptyx are common in mangrove and nipa palm forests across Southeast Asia, and they breed year-round in the warm and humid climate. Their synchronous symphony can be witnessed nearly every night in the right habitat.

You don’t have to travel all the way to Asia to see the spectacle, however: A species of synchronous firefly is native to North America. You can view Photinus carolinus in all its glory at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, Congaree National Park in South Carolina, and even as far north as Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. P. carolinus is active for a couple of weeks in late spring and summer, depending on their location.

If you want to catch the fireflies’ display, you need to plan ahead. The popularity of the spectacle—and the associated traffic and crowd control requirements—have prompted the National Park Service to implement a lottery system for those wanting to travel to the Great Smokies or Congaree for the show. The lottery usually opens in April on the the parks’ reservation website, recreation.gov.

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A version of this story was published 2016; it has been updated for 2024.