THE GLOW-WORM 



a worm" to express the lack of any kind of protection. 

 Now the Lampyris is clothed, that is to say he wears an 

 outer skin that serves as a defence; and he is, moreover, 

 rather richly coloured. He is dark brown, with pale 

 pmk on the chest; and each segment, or division, of his 

 body is ornamented at the edge with two spots of fairly 

 bright red. A costume like this was never worn by a 



worm I 



Nevertheless we will continue to call him the Glow- 

 worm, since it is bv that name that he is best known to 

 the world. 



The two most interesting peculiarities about the 

 Glow-worm are, first, the way he secures his food, and 

 secondly, the lantern at his tail. 



A famous Frenchman, a master of the science of food, 

 once said : 



"Show me what you eat, and I will tell you what you 



are." 



A similar question should be addressed to every insect 

 whose habits we propose to study; for the information 

 supplied by food is the chief of all the documents of 

 animal life. Well, in spite of his innocent appearance, 

 the Glow-worm is an eater of flesh, a hunter of game; 

 and he carries on his hunting with rare villainy. His 

 regular prey is the Snail. This fact has long been 

 known; but what is not so well known is his curious 



[55] 



