THE GLOW-WORM 285 



xeflection and give us a clear view of each individual 

 specimen. But not at all : the luminous party is a chaos 

 in which our eyes are unable to distinguish any definite 

 form at a medium distance. The collective lights con- 

 fuse the light-bearers into one vague whole. 



Photography gives us a striking proof of this. I have 

 a score of females, all at the height of their splendor, 

 in a wire-gauze cage in the open air. A tuft of thyme 

 forms a grove in the center of their establishment. 

 When night comes, my captives clamber to this pinnacle 

 and strive to show off their luminous charms to the 

 best advantage at every point of the horizon, thus form- 

 ing along the twigs marvelous clusters from which I 

 expected magnificent effects on the photographer's plates 

 and paper. My hopes were disappointed. All that I 

 obtain is white, shapeless patches, denser here and less 

 dense there according to the numbers forming the group. 

 There is no picture of the Glow-worms themselves; not 

 a trace either of the tuft of thyme. For want of satis- 

 factory light, the glorious firework is represented by a 

 blurred splash of white on a black ground. 



The beacons of the female Glow-worms are evidently 

 nuptial signals, invitations to the pairing; but observe 

 that they are lighted on the lower surface of the abdomen 

 and face the ground, whereas the summoned males, 

 whose flights are sudden and uncertain, travel overhead, 

 in the air, sometimes a great way up. In its normal 

 position, therefore, the glittering lure is concealed from 

 the eyes of those concerned; it is covered by the thick 

 bulk of the bride. The lantern ought really to gleam 



