Glow worm Lampyris noctiluca
The common glow worm is not at all worm-like but is a beetle up to 25mm long. Only the wingless females glow strongly, to attract the flying males. Each individual female has an adult glowing life of only a few weeks - once mated she turns off her light, lays her eggs and dies. Adult glow worms do not feed so they only live for 14 days or so. In Britain, the glow-worm is fairly widespread but local in distribution. The beetles are usually found on grassy slopes, verges and hedge banks on heaths and in open grassland - especially in chalky and limestone areas. People are often surprised to discover glow worms in their garden or along footpaths and railway embankments. They are rarely found on cultivated agricultural land. The glow worm needs a comparatively open area where the females can display to attract a male in June, July and August. The larvae need good habitat and a supply of small snails and slugs to feed on (which they paralyse before sucking them dry!) in order to thrive. After one or two summers the larvae mature into adults and are ready to mate. There is a suggestion that light pollution may distract male glow worms from finding females as they compete with artificial lighting. Other causes of glow worm decline are changes and loss of habitat, use of pesticides and changes in land use such as cessation of grazing. Many of Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves provide just the right habitat for glow worms. The beetles are present on Blaxhall Common, Carlton Marshes, Redgrave & Lopham Fen, Roydon Fen and Newbourne Springs. Glow worms are one of many species benefiting from the large-scale coastal heathland restoration undertaken by the Trust over the past 25 years. Open heathland has been restored by clearing trees and scrub and is maintained by pony and sheep grazing. The Sandlings Living Landscape vision aims to increase the amount of heathland within the Sandlings and link heathland areas creating more habitat for species like glow worms. 31