Pyractomena borealis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Pyractomena borealis commonly known as the Spring tree-top flasher is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae. It is found in North America, where it has a very wide distribution, as it is known from Alberta east to the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and south to all US states east of the Mississippi River. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Spring Treetop Flasher sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 441st most-seen of the 822 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–May and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spring Treetop Flasher in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–September and November–February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spring Treetop Flasher sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Spring Treetop Flasher sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Congaree National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Lampyridae
The closest relatives of the Spring Treetop Flasher that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (family Lampyridae, Fireflies) are Winter Firefly (about 10%), Common Eastern Firefly (about 10%) and Black Firefly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spring Treetop Flasher is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
