Coleopterous Insects. 25 1 



miles from the town, and just within which distance the fens 

 of the county may be said to begin, I have never seen a 

 Zampyris noctiluca, or heard of one's being seen. " The 

 glowworm" of these parts is the iScolopendra electrica, which 

 is by no means rare there. I have, however, been told that 

 the jLampyris does occur at Cherryhinton, a village in which 

 chalk abounds, situate three miles south by east of Cambridge. 

 In Suffolk, a county in which land in general is high and dry, 

 and chalk comparatively abundant, the Zampyris is not unfre- 

 quently met with. It occurs in the villages of Whepstead, 

 Horningsheath (pronounced Horringer), Hawstead, and Now- 

 ton, all near Bury St. Edmunds. The Rev. H. Hasted, of 

 this town, once remarked to me, that, on travelling by coach 

 at night, he observed, a little past Newark, clusters of the 

 iampyris beside the road ; and he also expressed to me his 

 opinion that it is an insect confined to, or at least most pre- 

 valent on, chalky soils. — J, Z). 



T/ie Glowworm is plentiful in many Parts of the Kingdom. 

 — They affect damp woods and hedgerows. The females 

 exhibit their light most in showery weather, and are by no 

 means a pleasant spark to the farmer, whose hay is lying on 

 the field. They are seen most frequently from midsummer 

 to the end of August. Their light is " the torch of Hymen;" 

 for the winged males fly to any other luminous body ; to the 

 lantern of the benighted traveller ; or to a lighted candle, 

 if a window happens to be open, as is often the case in 

 warm summer evenings. I have .caught half a dozen at a 

 time of these " gay Lotharios" from off the supper table, 

 and turned them adrift to seek their " flames" farther afield. 

 The males have lamps also, but very faint even in the dark : 

 of course they are invisible during their flight in the open 

 air [Albert seems of a different opinion, see V. 764-.]. When 

 the nymph is in full glory, she has the power of dimming her 

 lamps, if disturbed by an unwelcome visitor, but can soon re- 

 kindle them when her fears are over. This I have often proved 

 in passing and repassing a marked individual. These insects 

 hide themselves by day; as then their enemies (some of the 

 warblers, it is supposed) are on the alert. — J. Main. Dec, 24^ 

 18S3. 



What is the Difference in the Appearance of the Lay^va and 

 Imago of the common Glowworm {hamper is noctiltica 'L.) F — 

 On Sept. 2. 1833, I took many glowworms, near Keswick, 

 Cumberland, having been attracted to them by their light. 

 The light was much paler than that seen in July. I collected 

 them of all sizes. If the larva emits light, can it be called the 

 torch of Hymen ? — Edward Wilson, jun. Chapel Allerton, 

 near Leeds, April 15. 1833. 



