GLOW-WORM. 79 



produced under the superintendance of the Nymphs 

 of Fire. 



" You with light gas the lamps nocturnal feed 

 That dance and glimmer o'er the marshy meadj 

 Shine round Calendula at twilight hours, 

 And tip with silver all her saffron flowers: 

 Warm on her mossy couch the radiant worm, 

 Guard from cold dews her love-illumin'd form, 

 From leaf to leaf conduct the virgin light, 

 Star of the earth, and diamond of the night!'' 



It is certain that in some species of this genus 

 the male as well as the female is luminous, as in 

 the Lampyris Italica, which seems to be a native 

 of our o\vn island also, though less common here 

 than in the warmer parts of Europe. Aldrovandus 

 describes the winged Glow- Worm as having its 

 wing-shells of a dusky colour, and at the end of 

 the body two brilliant fiery spots like the flame of 

 sulphur. 



In the Philosophical Transactions for the year 

 1684 we find a paper by a Mr. Waller, describing 

 the English flying glow-worm as of a dark colour, 

 with the tail part very luminous: he maintains 

 that both male and female of this species are 

 winged, and that the female is larger than the 

 male: the light of this bisect was very vivid, so as 

 to be plainly perceived even when a candle was 

 in the room. Mr. Waller observed this species at 

 Northaw in Hertfordshire. From the figure given 

 by this writer it appears to be about half an inch 

 in length, which is much smaller than the common 

 female glow-worm. 



