Habitat: woodland near creek. Temperature: 31 Celsius. Not a rainy day. Non-flashing.
Photos of captured individual to be added. Emitted one orangish flash every 5 or so seconds. Displaying around the edges of a floodplain marsh
I hope to add more details soon. These were relatively abundant
Flying at moderate height across a path. Quick flicker flashing observed.
Observed paired flashing when flying. Splash notes on abdomen segment above lanterns.
Yellow flash, two seconds long with two seconds in between flashes. Flash fades in and out slowly. 72 degrees.
Atlantic cedar forest
Flashes green and given every 3-7 seconds
Known location
Potential state record. Vouchers are to be collected this weekend.
Brown coxae, broken pronotal vitta, 11 mm. Spurs present on mesotarsi.
Found in Atlantic cedar swamp along with P. mysticalampas.
Flightless female found in a remnant prairie
Time: 8:00-8:15 p.m., ~1 hour before sunset.
Length: 10.5-11 mm (pronotum to end of elytra)
Location: Hovering slowly through brush in mature forest with some "Ash gaps" in the canopy (see photo of environment)
Flash color (perceived): Deep yellow/amber
Flash pattern: A fairly brief, stationary blink/flash every 2-5 seconds for a series for 6-9 flashes. It was so light that we easily tracked the individuals between flashes as they flew, then slight paused to flash. Their flash pattern was highly variable, even in a single individual series. One individual was flashing more rapidly (~1 flash per 2.5 sec.), and paused about 3.5-4 seconds in the middle of the series before continuing. Another individual flashed more rapidly on one series than the previous, although fairly consistent throughout each series. It seemed like perhaps they moved to a new vantage point, flashed, and then moved to another vantage point before flashing, perhaps basing the flash timing more on a good view to look for a female's response rather than exact timing (this is speculation).
Temperature: ~80° F (per weather station)
Humidity: ~70% (per weather station)
Wind: Still in forest
MGDD: 1391
Light pollution: Bortle class 5
Notes: Males hovered slowly through brush an hour before sunset. Perhaps 10-15 were concentrated in a small area, often flying near each other (Lynn Faust's book describes this for Photinus australis). Approximately one hour later, we caught another male when we came back through the area (perhaps not the exact spot), which is a surprisingly long time for a species to be flashing.
Numerous Photuris (in the Penn Group) displayed in a field and open bog. There were two flash patterns observed. One was a single yellow flash every 3.5-4 seconds starting at twilight and continuing until I left at 11PM (pictured here). The individual caught and photographed was giving this flash pattern. There were also 1-2 individuals emitting a ~1 second crescendo, while flying low over the bog and high amongst margin trees. This flash pattern was repeated every ~3 seconds. Was the second flash pattern coming from the same species? Hard to know, however, another individual (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/52385790) previously reported at this location, emitted a bluish long flash and looked similar to the individual pictured here. 66 degrees Fahrenheit, light wind, and partly cloudy.
Photuris firefly feeding on Chauliognathus marginatus on common milkweed leaf. Note milkweed pollinia attached to prey near its head.
Around a dozen individuals flashing for about 20 minutes over grassy/herbaceous habitat. The display started about 10 minutes after sunset, when all flashing individuals emerged from the grass. The blurry photos show a forward expanded pronotal spot and a dark scutellum. The ventral view shows a tawny thorax and yellow abdomen. The individual was 8mm in length. One could argue this is P. marginellus, however, the key to the identification was the flash pattern, which consisted of a single quick flash every 2.5-2.6 seconds (timed) at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Interestingly, this may not be the first record of this species in NC, because the NC Biodiversity Project indicates an old record from Wake County: https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/beetles/view.php?checklist_number=62001010029.00
70 degrees Fahrenheit, clear, no wind, and mGDD from February 1 was ~1223.
Flash pattern: 3 to 4 moderately-paced flashes followed by 2-3 sec of silence. Seen with Pyractomena borealis