304 INSECT ARTIZANS AND THEIR WORK 



beetles are endowed with, as thougK to give them 

 an air of respectabihty and prevent their being 

 included in a lower class. 



The female Glow-worm is certainly not like any- 

 terrestrial worm, though in the sea we could find 

 specimens that would justify the comparison. She 

 is soft and depressed, and her back shows plainly 

 the segments of her structure. On the under side 

 of her hind body and near to its extremity are 

 three light-giving patches on each side. During 

 the daytime she remains hidden among the grass 

 and moss of hedgebanks, feeding upon snails, which 

 she literally " eats out of house and home." 



In the evening she temporarily leaves her repast 

 and climbs up the stem of some weed in order that 

 her lamps shall be raised just above the grass, and 

 gives a twist to her hind body so that the light 

 may be more fully revealed to the world in general, 

 and perhaps to the other sex of her own kind more 

 particularly. This is not the universal opinion of 

 its use, some authorities pointing out that there 

 are thousands of nocturnal creatures who contrive 

 to find partners without any such aid. That is so ; 

 but seeing that in this case the female is wingless 

 and unable to drag herself far from her feeding- 

 ground, it is at least feasible that the luminosity 

 is made use of by the species for this purpose. 



It may be stated that no better explanation has 

 yet been offered. Opponents of this view point 

 out that some other reason is indicated by the 

 fact that the larva is also luminous, and not only 



