Glow worm by Mike Bright
A young naturalist is out on the hunt for some interesting bugs this summer. Rudi Bright, the youngest and very active member of the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales can be found out on nature reserves of an evening looking for some intriguing creatures.
Glow worms are not in fact worms they are beetles, they produce a rather spectacular glow and use their glowing bottoms to attract a mate.
On a summer’s night, you may be lucky enough to see the small green light glowing in the darkness. Although the larvae and males can also glow, this is likely to be the female glow worm, which glows brightest in order to attract the flying males. Once mated the female will cease glowing and lay between 20 and 150 eggs under stones, logs or vegetation.
Rudi, aged 10, is helping the Wildlife Trust to seek out glow worms on nature reserves such as Parc Slip, near Bridgend. Rudi said “Helping the Trust find out where the beetles are means that we can make sure they have some great habitat to thrive in. It is also a lot of fun looking for them.”
“It’s thought that the numbers of glow worms are declining so it’s important to find out where they are so we can help protect them.”
This is the time of year to go out spotting for glow worms, from June to July. If you go out just after dark and look where there are lots of snails (which is their favourite food) then you may be lucky and spot some.
Why not encourage these fantastic creatures into your back garden? Simply create a log pile plus leave an area of grass to grow and you never know you may see some strange green lights at the bottom of your garden.
If you do spot glow worms it is a really important to let your local Biodiversity Record Centre know and help protect this glowing example of wildlife.
