In contrast, Lampyris luciferase had less sequence similarity to the luciferases of the click beetle Pyrophorus, at 48%. The protein was closely related to those of other lampyrid beetles, the similarity to Photinus pyralis luciferase being 84% and to Luciola 67%. The luciferase was a 547-residue protein, as deduced from the nucleotide sequence. The light of a glow-worm is bioluminescent, i.e the result of a chemical reaction: a molecule called luciferin is combined with oxygen to create oxyluciferin, a light-emitting compound.A full-length clone encoding Lampyris noctiluca (British glow-worm) luciferase was isolated from a complementary DNA (cDNA) expression library constructed with MRNA extracted from light organs. The larvae mainly consume earthworms, whereas the adults are unable to feed with only vestigial mouthparts. The glow is feeble and rarely lights up unless disturbed, so the female probably draws in males using pheromones. Females measure around 10mm, and the males around 7mm.
The species is rare and currently confined to southern England. Lesser glow-worm ( Phosphaenus hemipterus) View a glow-worm 10km distribution map of Wales. Move away from artificial light such as street lamps, car headlights, and houses to see the greenish light of a glow-worm more clearly. The adults do not eat anything, and only live for 14-21 days, until the female has mated and laid eggs. The larvae live a little longer and are seen between April and October.Īdults are only around for a short period in June and July, and the larvae between April and October. The larvae are most often seen living under rocks on chalk or limestone grasslands and feeding on slugs and snails. They use sickle-shaped jaws to inject a toxin which both paralyses and liquefies their prey. Gardens, hedgerows, railway embankments, woodland rides, heathland and cliffs are all possible habitats for glow-worms. The female sits in high up on a grass stem at night emitting a steady (not flashing) yellowish-green light from the end of her abdomen. The male, larvae and eggs can also emit light, although much more weakly than the female. The light is used to attract a flying male. 20mm in length. The larvae have prominent pale yellowy-orange triangular markings at the side of each segment which are not present on the females. The female has a completely black back with a thin paler line down its centre, whilst the larvae tend to be more greyish-brown.
Despite their name, the glow-worm is actually a beetle, not a worm! The males look like typical beetles with wings and hard wing cases known as elytra. They are light brown in colour, have large photosensitive eyes, and measure c.15mm in length. The females look very similar to the larvae (known as larviform females), have no wings, and measure c.
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