The magic — and science — of synchronous fireflies

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Every year for two weeks between mid-May and mid-June, Congaree National Park in South Carolina is home to a fairy-tale-like display of flashing lights. These rhythmic performances happen all because of thousands of fireflies, flashing their belly lanterns at exactly the same time. According to the National Park Service, there are just three species of these synchronous fireflies in North America, making the experience all the more magical for the lucky visitors who get the chance to see them. (encore)

This story was originally reported for NPR by science correspondent Pien Huang. Read Pien's full story here.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:06.0	Hey, Short Waver, is Regina Barber here.
0:07.7	And a few weeks ago, I went on a wild nighttime ride.
0:11.8	We're in this, like, cart that this lady is biking us around with a dog.
0:17.7	And we're looking for bugs.
0:19.9	Friend of the show and wonderful, beloved reporter, Ping Wong, was there.
0:24.7	We are loaded up here in the cargo wagon.
0:28.5	Cargo bike.
0:29.1	Cargo bike.
0:30.4	And we are very tightly pushed in.
0:33.5	And Ping is a patient, patient woman.
0:36.3	And she has a dog on one side of her and me smushing her on the other side.
0:42.8	It was a tight fit.
0:44.7	It was. I felt terrible pink.
0:46.2	Because you had organized this trip to see something very specific and very special.
0:51.4	It's true, Gina.
0:52.6	We were out on a bike trail at 9 p.m. on a weekday for a reason.
0:58.6	And even though there were cars zooming past us, planes flying overhead, the conditions were
1:04.6	actually totally perfect. They were magical. Like, I'm looking out into the marsh and I'm seeing
1:09.3	all these, like, the darkness and bushes.
1:12.4	But then you just see like pops of light.
1:17.3	It feels like a fairy tale.
	...

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