PHOTO CREDITS & SOURCES

How fireflies send their love signals

Animals & NatureOctober 9, 2026

Reporting & fact-checking

National Park Service — Synchronous Fireflies: biology, courtship and viewing etiquette Firefly Atlas, Xerces Society — Black firefly (Lucidota atra) National Park Service — Fireflies over Niobrara wetlands, photograph and usage information National Park Service — Firefly Flash Patterns

Website feature photograph: original NPS Photo / J. Gray, matched by SHA-256 to the cleared carousel cover source. Other Instagram slides are not rehosted in this article. Instagram carousel photography also credits NPS/Christopher Vuille-Kowing (slides 2–3) and NPS/Argentine Productions (slide 4).

THE IMAGES

IMAGE 01

Green firefly light trails over the Niobrara River wetlands beneath a dark sky, recorded in a long exposure.

Creator / photographer: NPS Photo / J. Gray
Rights holder: National Park Service
License / usage: Public domain; NPS photograph without a copyright symbol. Full granting rights recorded in NPGallery.
Changes: Original photograph uploaded without editorial text overlays; responsive display may resize or crop.

Original asset & source

Attribution matters.

Credit and permission are different things. A credit here does not grant permission to reuse an image. Check each original source and its license.

Request a credit correction