OF THE GLOWWOEM (LAMPTEIS NOCTILTJOA). 47 



fibres ; this, tlierefore, appears to be tlie habit of the insect. The 

 males continued to pay attention to their partners, which were 

 still engaged in the act of deposition, so that repeated impregna- 

 tion may be necessary, perhaps, for the full impregnation of all 

 the ova. On the 25th of June, at ten a.m., I removed some of the 

 eggs to a glass tube, closed at each end by a cork, for the purpose 

 of observing theii' development ; as there is some difficulty in 

 doing this when the eggs are repeatedly exposed in the observa- 

 tions. 



I now observed that the males were beginning to pay less at- 

 tention to their partners ; so that the season of shining is followed 

 quickly by that of pairing and the deposition of the eggs ; and 

 when the latter takes place quickly after pairing, the female has 

 already been in communication with the male, or has been for 

 some days abroad. 



On the 26th of June, in the afternoon, when the temperature 

 was near 70°, all my glow^vorms, both male and female, were still 

 living, but the former ceased to pay any attention to the latter, 

 and these were not depositing any ova. 



On the folloAving day, however, Jime 27th, a few more eggs were 

 deposited, and one of the males was again attending to and flitting 

 about the female ; but after this day all further attention entirely 

 ceased, and the males died. The light of the females also became 

 exceedingly faint, and was shot forth only feebly at intervals. In 

 a few days these also died. I am not prepared, however, to state 

 whether these invariably die after depositing their ova, as I be- 

 lieve, or whether they continue to feed and live on until the follow- 

 ing year. It is quite certain that they take some nourishment in 

 their perfect state, but this is not the case with the male. 



In connexion with the deposition of the ova, it is interesting to 

 mark the way in which that process is conducted when the union 

 of the sexes has not been eftected. Thus, if it hajjpens from the 

 absence of males that the glowworm has not been impregnated 

 within two or three days after quitting the pupa, the light is 

 given out for one or two evenings with increased intensity, and is 

 constantly exposed to view in the manner before described ; whilst 

 the insect appears to be greatly excited, and alternately moves 

 from place to place, resting on the ground or climbing to the ex- 

 tremity of blades of grass, changing the position of her body and 

 the light, and shining with greater brightness, but no eggs are 

 deposited. Like many other insects, and more especially the 

 females of some Lepidoptera, the glowworm retains her eggs for a 



