A good year for glow worms

London - The glow worm’s eerie green light has fascinated country folk for countless generations.

And now many more will witness Britain’s most intriguing insect - as experts say it is enjoying one of its best summers in memory.

The creatures emerged from their winter hiding places sooner than usual after the spring heatwave and populations are booming. Conservationists say sightings of the “lightning bug” in hedgerows and meadows came three weeks early in May.

Not in fact a worm but a beetle, Lampyris Noctiluca has long been associated with elves and fairies in folklore.

Only adult females glow - emitting an ethereal, bright green light from the base of their abdomens - to attract the flying males. Once a female has mated, she turns out her light, lays eggs and dies. Adult glow worms can’t feed, so they can live for only 14 days or so.

The Glow Worm Survey is reporting unusually high numbers of the insect with 300 counted glowing on one site near the Great Orme headland at Llandudno.

Robin Scagell, who co-ordinates the annual survey, said: “The warm April certainly seems to have made a difference in some parts of the country, where glow worms started to appear exceptionally early.

“This time last year there were just a handful of sightings.

“In many places the peak numbers are still to come. We would ask people who do spot them to go on our website and report their sightings.”

Mr Scagell added: “Quite often they appear in people’s gardens, but because glow worms can only spread slowly as the females and larvae don’t fly, the glow worms have probably been nearby for a long time, maybe hundreds of years.” - Daily Mail