Glow-worm light
Photo: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis
Glow-worm light.| Glow-worm |
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Jaanimardikas | Lampyris noctiluca |
Adult glow-worms only live for a few days and this time is spent on finding a mate and laying eggs. Both sexes glow: the glow organ is at the rear end of its abdomen. Glowing specimens can be found until the end of July in unpolluted environments.
A female glow-worm is wingless, up to a few centimetres long and reminds of a larva. The male beetle is about half this size, with wings and able to fly; large eyes help to find a mate. As dusk falls the females emerge from their hiding places; there are often several of them. A noisy approach or other disturbance stops the glowing.
Adult glow-worms don’t need food, reserves stored in the body are used up. After the fertilized female glow-worm has laid its eggs it dies. Within a month very small larvae are hatched; their development into an adult glow-worm then lasts THREE years.
The path of fern flower seekers is often illuminated by glow-worm light.
Note: In Estonian folk tradition the fern flower, sõnajalaõis, is a magic flower. It flowers only for a very brief time on the night of Midsummer Eve, and it can bring the finder luck, the ability to understand animal speech, invisibility, wealth and much more.
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