Page 39 - br-july-2019

July 2019 July 2019
BERE REGIS WILDLIFE AND

ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Glow Worms

Glow worms are fascinating little creatures and they
are here in Bere Regis. The glow worm, Lampyris
noctiluca, is not at all worm-like but is a beetle up to
25 mm long. As their name suggests the glow worm
glows, or at least some of them do as it is only the
wingless female that glows strongly. This is to attract the smaller flying male
beetles. Each individual female has an adult glowing life of only a few weeks until
she mates, since she dies soon after laying her eggs.
After a few weeks the eggs hatch
into larvae, and they remain as
larvae for one or two further
summers. The larvae feed on
small snails which they apparently
paralyse before sucking them
empty! The two- or maybe even
three-year gap between a
mating and the subsequent
appearance of an adult can
explain why you may find plenty on a site one year, yet few or none at all the
next.
A glow worm larvae (pictured above) was seen last month crawling across a
path near to Souls’ Moor. In previous years glowing females have been seen on
the field margins at May’s Wood. Glow worms can be seen in many habitats
(even gardens) although they are said to favour chalky or limestone areas. The
peak glowing period is evenings in June and July. See if you can find any - do let
us know if you do and where they were.

And Scarlet Tiger moths

There have been a good many
sightings of this most attractive day
flying moth with a flash of red on their
underwings when flying. The
caterpillars feed on comfrey.

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