Glow-worms 125 



or weasel, may have some compensating virtues to make up, 

 even in part, for the toll they take of his game. 



The sun had long since disappeared behind the Ddwallt 

 ere I gained the water-shed of the Avon Fechan ("The 

 Little Brook ") and the beaten track for Llanuwchllyn once 

 more, and the summer's night had drawn her grey mantle 

 closely over the deep vales. The grass glittered in the 

 starlight with " tears of Eos," fallen before their time l : 



" That diamond dew, so pure and clear, 

 It rivals all but Beauty's tear." 



Nor was it only in the heavens above that stars were 

 shining, for the Glow-worm had lighted its nuptial torch, 

 and gleamed brightly by the wayside, especially so (as is its 

 wont) in damp places where Juncus acutiflorus flourishes. 

 From what its liking for this rush arises, I do not know, 

 since it does not seem to feed upon it at any stage of its 

 existence, but its partiality for sitting upon it is quite re- 

 markable. Possibly the association may merely be a co- 

 incidence, both plant and beetle liking wet ground. The 

 Glow-worm here referred to is, of course, Lampyris noctiluca, 

 the wingless female of which is so different from the dingy 

 brown beetle, her partner, that she is commonly regarded 

 (by daylight) as " a mere grub," and a distinct creature. It 

 is abundant in Merionethshire, but so little attention is 

 generally paid to such " small deer " there, that for the 

 benefit of Welsh readers, it may be worth while to recall 

 the fact that, both in its larval and mature state, this insect 

 is not only harmless to plant life, but lives largely on snails 

 and shags. To that very great virtue (I write as a gardener, 

 and feel sure that brother horticulturists will endorse the 

 remark) I may add another, which seems to be less gener- 

 ally known viz. that it also eats aphides. The phosphor- 

 escent light is chiefly given out by the adult female, 

 presumably for the attraction of the male ; but is sometimes 



1 Eos was the dawn, in Greek Mythology, and when her son Memnon 

 was killed, her tears are said to have fallen from the sky in the form of 

 morning dew. 



