This Western North Carolina National Forest Is One of the Only Places to See Blue Ghost Fireflies

There are more than 2,400 species of fireflies in the United States. While most people are familiar with the sporadic twinkling of the more common species or may have heard about synchronized firefly displays, there’s a unique phenomenon only visible in parts of the southern Appalachian mountains that many have not heard of or seen.

Pisgah National Forest, near Brevard, North Carolina, is one of the few places blue ghost fireflies—a rare species that gives off a continuous blue glow—call home.

“Instead of the stereotypical blink, they will stay lit for a few seconds,” explains Clinton Wickers, site manager at the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah National Forest, operated by nonprofit Find Outdoors. “It literally looks like a blue ghost or kind of an eerie, small, blue light that’s floating through the woods, almost leaving a trail.”

A firefly’s light is used during mating season, which typically happens in late spring and early summer. Males and females signal to each other through a pattern or series of flashes to find a match, but females of the Phausis reticulata species don’t fly. Males hover low to the ground as a result, illuminated for a few seconds to a minute at a time, while females on the ground signal back, creating what looks like a floating floor of wavering blue light.

“It looks like elves that are carrying the lights through the forest,” Dr. Jennifer Frick-Ruppert, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Brevard College has said of the effect previously. “It’s hard to believe it is real.” Frick-Ruppert found blue ghost fireflies on her property and didn’t know what they were, which led to researching and publishing her findings in 2008, vaulting the little-known insect to relatively modest fame.

What makes blue ghost fireflies even more mysterious is that they are next to impossible to capture on camera. “Don’t expect to get any pictures of the fireflies,” says Wickers, explaining that specialized photography equipment is needed to try to snag a shot.

In pictures, blue ghost fireflies will look green. However, as Wickers shares, because the light these fireflies give off is so intense, it appears blue to the human eye.

If you’re hoping to catch sight of the blue ghost fireflies, the window to see them each year is short and it’s best to take a guided tour so you don’t disturb or destroy their habitat. This year, Find will host tours through the Cradle of Forestry on select dates from May 19 to June 7. Advance tickets are required and Wickers says they typically sell out.

Expect to arrive by 8:45 p.m. for a short educational program before heading out on the Forest Festival Trail, a roughly 1.3-mile paved route. Bring a flashlight with a red light to help guide you as a traditional one or your cell phone’s light will interfere with the fireflies.

And then, be patient.

“We suggest what folks do is turn off their lights and stop and look into the woods to their left or right, and just stand there for a few minutes,” Wickers advises. “And see if anything happens.”