| Common Glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca (Linnaeus, 1767)) |
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Scientific name: Lampyris noctiluca (Linnaeus, 1767) Common name: Common Glow-worm French name: Lampyre, Vers luisant. Order: Coleoptera Family: Lampyridae Wingspan : 15 to 25 mm for females, 15 to 18 mm for males. Biotope: High grasses or small bushes. Geographic area: Europe and Asia, from Great Britain to China, north to the Polar Circle. North Africa. Observation period : July-August. |
Adult Common Glow-worms do not feed and so have a rather short life (about 14-21 days). There is an important sexual dimorphism. Males have dark grey elytra and are normally winged. The head, bearing very large eyes, is often hidden under the half-circular pronotum, letting the head appearing by transparency. The under side of the two last abdominal segments is white. Females are totally wingless and are very similar to larvae. They show a dull black upper side with only a thin pale median line. You can recognize larvae by the lateral pale spots located on the hind edge of each segment. Females attract males by emitting a cold light under the three last abdominal segment, this is the origin of the common name of Common Glow-worm. Notice that males are also luminescent but only under the last segment and with a lower intensity. The larvae feed on snails which they paralyze before eating them. They will go through four moults for males, five moults for females, to pupate the next spring. |
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The pale lateral spots on the hind edges of the segments indicate one larva. |
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Here is one male observed in my compost tank. |
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It is difficult to see the underside of the two last abdominal segments on this side view. |
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Here is one larva. All the observed larva appeared to me very mobile. |
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Another view of the same larva. |
André Bon April 2021