Each lottery pass is awarded per vehicle, not per person. However, roughly 12,000 people get to witness the breeding show each year. This may seem like only a select few get to see the fireflies. Likewise, the shuttle is only $1 per person to ride. It only costs $2.75 per pass, and you are only charged if you are successful in receiving a pass. Luckily, even though this is such a high-demand event, it is very affordable to attend. This year out of the 18,486 applications for a one night lottery pass, only 1,800 were accepted. People have four days to apply at their leisure, and the winners are selected at random. In 2016, they went to a lottery system on the National Park Service site. The website system was not much better though, because it would crash due to the enormous surge of users and all the passes would be sold out in roughly 30 seconds after opening. Originally, the viewing period was first-come, first-serve, but because masses of people would stand in line for hours and hours, they changed to an online reservation system. The shuttle reduces traffic and congestion and also helps to protect the fireflies and reduce disturbance during the critical mating period. Guests park at the Sugarlands Visitor Center and then take a short shuttle bus ride to the trailhead. Shuttles were provided for the park to use during the eight-day viewing period. This amazing nature spectacle started becoming highly popular in 2005, and in 2006 through a partnership with the city of Gatlinburg. Scientists speculate that the reason the males create a synchronized dark period is so that they can search for a willing mate without being distracted by other flashing males. It is more similar to a spectacular Christmas light display of rapidly twinkling lights and then a sudden period of complete darkness, as if someone pulled the plug. Even though the males are flashing in the same time pattern, they are not all flashing together. If one has never actually witnessed the event, sometimes upon envisioning the phenomenon, individuals will portray a pulsing glow of light that blinks on and off together at once. This synchronized biological light show will continue until midnight or later. The males flash for a period of two to four seconds, and then pause for an eight second break in which the females will respond with a quick double-flash. A courageous male will begin flashing around 9:30 p.m., right at dusk, and after a few minutes the rest will coordinate their luminescent lanterns. The male fireflies hover two to seven feet above the ground while the females stay on the ground. The remarkable synchronized blinking is actually the males working very hard to attract a female. This is the two week, spectacular viewing period that thousands of people come to see. Once mature, they emerge as lightning bugs ready to mate. They will spend the first year or two of their lives as larva underground feeding until maturity. And like all beetles, they start out as larva. There are a number of different firefly species in the park however, this particular species is the only one capable of synchronizing their illumination patterns. The Smoky Mountains has the largest population of synchronous fireflies in the Western Hemisphere. This year’s viewing dates were announced for May 30 through June 6. Every year near the Elkmont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, tens of thousands of a species of firefly, known as Photinus carolinus put on quite a show, lighting up the entire forest in a brilliant twinkling display.
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