A few years ago a most peculiar insect flew into my office and landed on my sweater. Its antennae were huge in comparison to the size of the insect. I contacted my friend Eric Eaton who is an expert entomologist who told me I had a male Glowworm Beetle. He gave me this link with scientific information about this glowworm.
I recall going fishing with my family on a riverbank in Indiana at night as a child when my mom commented on the Glowworms on the river bank. Had it not been for that experience, I would have had no clue about Glowworms.
I still have some unanswered questions. I spent some time this week trying to learn more about them. I learned that the larva stage glows in the dark. Females continue to glow in the dark and their appearance doesn’t change much from the larva stage to the adult stage. They don’t grow wings, but the adults have only six legs. The large antennae and wings are only seen on the adult male beetles.
I want to know where to look for Glowworms. They have to be somewhere around my home in South Carolina for an adult beetle to fly through my open door and land on my sweater.
The Glowworms are also called Railroad Worms, so I wondered if they were often found near railroads. But I learned that the name Railroad Worm comes from their appearance at night as their glow comes from rows of dots along their sides making them look like railroad passenger cars with lights shining through the windows. Look at images of Glowworms in the link given in the first paragraph above.
I have learned that Glowworm larvae eat millipedes, so it appears that the best place to look for Glowworms might be in places where millipedes are found. Millipedes like dead leaves and decaying wood. That gives me a start on places to look for them.
Fireflies, AKA Lightning Bugs, are similar in that they glow at night. But the Firefly uses its glow to attract a mate. The Glowworm uses it’s light to attract prey. I remember hearing this song about Glowworms, but the image with this brief video only shows Fireflies.
Many insects such as Fireflies, Glowworms, butterflies, and more are declining every year, partly because people have become obsessed with raking and burning leaves. They also use chemicals on their lawns which kill both insects and wildflowers that feed insects. These practices kill eggs and larvae.
As a child, I remember catching 20 or more fireflies in one evening, bringing them in the house in a jar, then letting them go in the morning. Today, most people feel lucky to see a single firefly in an entire evening. We need to learn better ways to care for God’s creation.
Have you ever seen a Glowworm? If you find one, take a picture and send it to me. I hope to find one myself someday.
#glowworm #firefly #railroadworm
Learn about more wonderful things in nature in the book, Outside ABCs, by Janice D. Green. Trailer for Outside ABCs.
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