Glow-worms

I did a study of glow worms on an East Devon Heath over many years - logged numbers, veg types, management techniques on Heath etc. I concluded that glow worms and adders liked to bask in the same spots. It is hard to pinpoint why some years are good and some poor for glow worms as the reasons might lie a few years back. Cutting the vegetation back along fire breaks/rides at the wrong time of year and letting it lie in thick wedges is tough on them and cattle tramping and mucking on grass edges of rides is very bad for them, in fact has wiped them out from one area where they were plentiful. Scraping is a killer too. Sad really as I see a little colony and then next visit it's wiped out by some management event.

great post Noods!

who doesnt love these entymological Eddystone lighthouses eh?

when i lived in Stroud i used to often see them towpathside while wandering along the (sadly soon to be reopened to traffic) disused Thames and Severn Canal. they were like little runway lights guiding my inebriated feet clear of the water as i trudged home from the pub!

what we need is more lampers/poachers ( ) recording.
i bet they see them often.

meantimes, yes, ill keep my eye out for the charismatic little suckers.

charz

Yeap me too

Sussex (and others), have a look on the squashed vegetation immediately under the mat or on the mat underside for larvae. You don't seem to have to look very hard and they seem to stand out from all the other bugs.

Thanks for posting that shot. I forgot that I'm looking out for them this year. They are definitely present on one site that I regularly visit so I'll post my shots in the summer when they emerge.