A disappointing aspect of Nottinghamshire's present flora and fauna, is often the lack of freely available information. On a personal level, this is extremely frustrating when trying to ascertain the status of any particular species, but the problem is not always the fault of any county recorder, but the fact that people are not sending in reports of species they find.

The Glow Worm is just one example of this, but it is a difficult species to see through the beetle's nocturnal habits. Therefore, many reports recieved by the county recorder are probably accidental in occurrence.

Mated females lay eggs shortly after mating is completed. A female we caught with a male one evening, had begun laying by the end of the night. Eggs were laid just into the soil substrate, usually into available cracks and crevices. The larva is carnivorous, feeding predominantly on a diet of small snails. Maturity can take around two years to complete, but is often less in captivity, where the temperature is warmer.

Nottinghamshire and UK status

Although it has probably disappeared from many of it's former Nottinghamshire localities, there is a likelyhood that it may still be present, but in much reduced numbers. It is considered as being local across much of the UK, where numbers have declined at many sites in recent years.

Sheila Wright at the NBGRC at Wollaton Hall, said that the Birklands and Sherwood Forest areas were a stronghold for Glow Worms (about 12 reported sites in the last 20 years) and that there were several other known sites around the county.

However, contact with Robin Scagell of the UK Glow Worm Survey website showed otherwise, with little recent (post 2000) data from any Nottinghamshire sites. There were several very old records and sites listed, but few from modern times.

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August 10th 2008. What appears to be the last of this year's females, was not seen during a thorough search of the area which she had remained in for at least 15 nights.

The light from glow worms is a form of bioluminescence and caused when luciferin molecules are oxydised to produce oxyluciferin, with the enzyme luciferase acting as a catalyst in the reaction (Ref: UK Glow Worm Survey website) Subtle differences are evident in the shapes of the glowing plates of four different females, photographed at Clipstone Old Quarter during June and July 2008, but the female in the bottom right photograph is possibly showing the presence of very small mites.

More Glow Worm photographs available here, including access to some larger images.