CHAPTER XI 



WONDERS OF INSECT LIFE 



I. INSECT LAMPLIGHTERS, ACROBATS, AND 

 MUSICIANS 



To deal with some of the inhabitants of the 



wonderful world of insect-life somewhat in the 



order set out in the title of this essay brings us at 



once to the Glow Worm of our English hedgerows. 



This particular insect seems somewhat ill-named, 



and in this respect reminds us of the so-called 



Slow Worm. Neither the insect nor the reptile is 



a Worm. As a matter of fact, the Glow Worm is 



a Beetle and the Slow Worm is a legless Lizard. 



Lampyris noctiluca — our own familiar native 



species of Glow Worm — has doubtless been 



observed emitting her pale, soft light on a 



Summer's evening. The effect produced in a 



good Glow Worm year, when a number of females 



are gathered together, is a beautiful sight and 



very striking when the phenomenon is looked 



upon for the first time. I remember well a few 



years ago seeing a hedgerow lit up for some miles 



by the curious phosphorescent light, and neither 



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