Glow-worm gloom ..

[brian livesey]

Glow-worms are beetles. The male has the appearance of a beetle, while the female looks like a larvae. The latter can luminesce, emitting a bright green light at nighttime to attract males for mating.
Research has shown that glow-worm numbers are in decline due to light pollution. Jeremy Niven, a professor of zoology at the University of Sussex, said: “Recent studies have documented large-scale declines in insect numbers, which has serious consequences for agriculture and the ecosystems that depend upon insects.
“Light pollution has emerged as a serious threat to insect populations, along with climate heating and land use change.” Male glow-worms have large eyes that are sensitive to light, but light pollution is overwhelming the glow from females making it difficult for males to locate them.
Researchers experimented with white and green LEDs in a maze containing male glow-worms and a LED dummy female to study male glow-worm behaviour. In the light from the white LEDs that mimicked streetlights, only 21 per cent of the glow-worms studied found the green glowing dummy female.
Another example of the destructive effects of the excesses of the times we live in, where the intricate web of nature is being dismembered.

[jeff.stevens]

I seem to recall the SPA's Robin Scagell running a glow worm survey/website:

https://www.glowworms.org.uk/

Best wishes, Jeff.

[brian livesey]

Yes, I remember this Jeff. Robin has a liking for glow-worms.

[michael feist]

If you check, the SPA forum archives, as I just did, you will find a report titled 'Glow-worms and Planets'. This concerns a visit to a local Nature Reserve and a walk and count of Glow-worms on 4/7/2015. by mike a feist. There is a reply by brian livesey, jeff stevens etc. much more. If I could figure out how to copy and re- print here as an 'quote from the past', I would do so. mf.

[jeff.stevens]

If you check, the SPA forum archives, as I just did, you will find a report titled 'Glow-worms and Planets'.... If I could figure out how to copy and re- print here as an 'quote from the past', I would do so.

I think the link shown below will take people to the relevant post, Mike:

Gow Worms and Planets

Best wishes, Jeff.