Glow Worms

Big Jim

Member
Its coming up to that time of year when female Glow Worms will begin to display. Records for the species are limited and many are quite old, dating back to the 70s-90s.  There are possibly many colonies in the county as yet unrecorded as very few folk go out walking late at night when the females are likely to be seen. Cavers are however likely to come across them when walking back to their cars after a trip. Most (though not exclusively) of the known glow worm colonies are in the limestone areas of the county, another reason cavers could stumble across them.

There are old records for Pindale / Dirtlow / Bradwell / Oldmoor areas, as well as many accounts from the Matlock / Via Gellia area.

If you do see any (or know of any locations), please PM me the details with numbers seen and grid reference if possible.

Thanks

Jim
 

pwhole

Well-known member
The only glow-worms I've ever seen in my life were up at Lockerbrook Farm, in the mid-70s, when I was (briefly) in the scouts.
 

Big Jim

Member
Interesting Phil, there aren't any records for anywhere near there so far as I can see, and its well away from the limestone. There is a good colony at Hathersage nr the surprise and nr the Robin Hood above Baslow which are also not on limestone. I might give the place a call to see if anyone up there knows if they've been seen this millennium.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Yeah, it's not exactly a recent sighting, I must admit, but it was there.
I may have seen some around Bole Hill Quarry on one or two very late nights in later years, but given those conditions, luminous blobs in the dark can be somewhat common  :halo:
 

Big Jim

Member
I did wonder that about your first post, but realised even you must have been quite young in the 70s....... there were far more e-numbers in the pop back then though  :-\
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Big Jim said:
There were far more e-numbers in the pop back then though  :-\

Yep, even I have a blemish-free section of my life. But we have 'young' William Hague's dad to thank for that teenage life-brightener - 'Hague's Soft Drinks' were massive in Rotherham in the 70s, and their limeade and cherryade would be perfect for dye-tracing - were it still legal to manufacture. You did get 5p back though.

Anyway, back on topic... :-[
 

Graigwen

Active member
Last summer a resident of Varteg, Torfaen told me that she had traveled several hundred miles to see glow worms in the south east of England. On her return she learned that a better place to see them was Varteg Station, less than half a mile from her home.
 

Antwan

Member
So what exactly are we looking for? Is it those things that hang down from trees in threads? So I would assume looking around areas with a few trees?
 

Big Jim

Member
Glow Worms are a species of Beetle. The females produce a bioluminescent glow from the tip of their abdomen about the same colour as the yellow-green LED you get on a computer (for example). They are usually found in grasslands but sometimes woodland. The best places to look are at 'unimproved' grassland ie not those ruined by farmers, where there are abundant snails which they prey upon. Sadly a declining habitat.  Limestone dale slopes are a good place to look but also old railway embankments are common glowie habitats.

More info can be found here...http://www.glowworms.org.uk/ though it doesn't have many photos. Google Lampyris noctiluca and youll find plenty of photos.

J
 

Mark

Well-known member
Field opposite Magpie Sough tail in the 70s, to the right of the track as you approach the bridge to the bobbin mill
 

Big Jim

Member
Hmm, funny that doesn't appear on any records I have BUT a Peak Park Ranger friend mentioned that site to me some years ago so might have to have a butchers at that one. Cheers Mark. (y)
 

Mrs Trellis

Well-known member
Recited on BBC R4 this afternoon:-

The Mower to the Glow-Worms By Andrew Marvell

Ye living lamps, by whose dear light
The nightingale does sit so late,
And studying all the summer night,
Her matchless songs does meditate;

Ye country comets, that portend
No war nor prince?s funeral,
Shining unto no higher end
Than to presage the grass?s fall;

Ye glow-worms, whose officious flame
To wand?ring mowers shows the way,
That in the night have lost their aim,
And after foolish fires do stray;

Your courteous lights in vain you waste,
Since Juliana here is come,
For she my mind hath so displac?d
That I shall never find my home.

 

Peregrina

Member
Are there other glowing beetles to confuse them with?

I saw a beetle with a glowing patch on its abdomen at Dovedale a few years ago.
 

Big Jim

Member
Peregrina said:
Are there other glowing beetles to confuse them with?

I saw a beetle with a glowing patch on its abdomen at Dovedale a few years ago.

Not in Derbyshire there aren't (or so far as is known). There is another species (Lesser Glow worm - Phosphaenus hemipterus) that has only been found at a handful of sites down south. Chances are you did see a Glow Worm (Lampyris noctiluca) as there are records for the Dovedale area.

Jim
 
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