![]() ![]() By some quirk of timing, our expedition consisted of only 7 participants. Dim red headlamps and flashlights came on one by one and after a brief introduction from the ranger, Codi, we headed off into the black forest. Two other cars pulled into the lot, followed by a ranger’s truck. We managed to find a tour that wasn’t sold out and one of the adorable Pickett State Park cabins was available for the same night. It popped into our heads just days earlier. The tours are only conducted in late May and early June. We had wanted to witness this natural marvel for years but somehow never got the timing right. A simulation of the glow worm caves at Pickett State Park, Tennessee ![]() Yes, it was finally time to realize one of our dreams, to take a tour of the glow worm caves at Pickett State Park, Tennessee. We had driven more than 200 miles that day, full of excitement to see a bioluminescent maggot. As we opened the car door the incessant call of a whip-poor-will echoed loudly through the forest. The indigo sky was darkening quickly but a near-full moon was peeking through the tree tops. The luminous efficiency (ratio of light to heat given out) of the luminous organs may be as high as 92 per cent, compared with 5.5 per cent for an electric light bulb of the tungsten type.We rolled slowly to a stop in the Hazard Cave trailhead parking area at 8:20 PM. This, when oxidized by an enzyme (organic catalyst) called luciferase, produces light. These organs contain a substance called luciferin. The organs producing the light vary from minute swellings to large masses covering the lower surface of the body, and may be anywhere between the head and the hinder end of the abdomen. Many fire flies, like the American Photinus pyralis, emit intermittent flashes of light, so that, at night, they give the impression of shooting stars.įire flies are nocturnal insects, and the light they emit is a mating signal, enabling the males to find the females in the dark. The common British glow-worm, Lampyris noctiluca, glows steadily during the hours of darkness, putting out her light by day. In some fire flies, the females are wingless, with slender, segmented, worm-like bodies. Although more than 1,000 species of fire flies are known, only two are British.įire flies get their name from the light they emit, though in reality they are not flies, but beetles. ![]()
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