Friday, April 17, 2009

Glow-worm

Species: Lampyris noctiluca
Common names: Glow-worm, ver luisant, glimworm

Glow-worms and fire-flies belong to a family of beetles called the Lampyridae. In Britain there are just two native species - the common glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) and the lesser glow-worm (Phosphaenus hemipterus). The latter, however, is very rare and confined as a British species to a few small, elusive colonies in the southern counties of England. The glow-worm derives its name from the remarkable ability to emit light, a characteristic shared by all members of the Lampyridae, and from the larviform (or worm-like) appearance of the wingless female. The male is a more typical beetle, being fully winged and able to fly. The female is larger than the male, often nearly twice his size


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