Saving the small things that run the planetLatin name: Lampyris noctiluca
Notable feature: Females emit a yellow-green glow at night, making them unmistakable for any other beetle
Conservation Status: Not Evaluated
Where in the UK: The Common Glow-worm, as its name suggests, is common across Britain, but is not present in Northern Ireland. Usually found in long-established grassland, typically on calcareous substrates, which may include meadows, railway embankments, road verges and woodland edges; more common in the south of England and Wales but also found in lowland Scotland.
The Common Glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) despite its name is not a worm, but a beetle; belonging to the family Lampyridae, commonly known as fireflies. It is one of two glow-worms found in the UK and is a native, medium-sized, narrow beetle. Also known as Firefly, Common European Glow-worm and European Glow-worm, this beetle is locally common in England and Wales, becoming more scattered and scarce to the far north of Scotland and absent from Northern Ireland.
The male Common Glow-worm looks like an ordinary beetle with hard wing cases and can fly (although they are not strong fliers); the flightless female is larger than the male, is dark in colour with a thin pale line down the centre of its body, she has flattened body sections and no wings at all.
Only the adult female glows brightly, caused by a chemical reaction in the final two segments of their abdomen creating a bright greenish-yellow glow (bioluminescence). They can glow for several hours at a time as soon as it gets dark, with the glow being used to attract a mate; they switch off their glow once they have mated. The adult female tends to live a short, sedentary life, rarely moving more than 30cm from one night to the next.
Common Glow-worm larvae look very much like the wingless females but have pale spots at the rear edge of each segment. The larvae can produce a weak intermittent light that is easily overlooked.
Buglife is working to increase awareness of invertebrates and the Common Glow-worm through specific projects and campaigns such as our Light Pollution campaign “Nurture the Night Shift” and Species Champions.
Join a recording scheme and log your finds – send any records/sightings to Glow-worms UK or download the iRecord app and get recording!
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