Glow worms: Spectators head to South Downs for breeding season ( www.bbc.co.uk )

autotldr Bot , 2 days ago

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It’s late at night on the South Downs as a group of ardent wildlife spotters gather round a pair of glow-worms appearing to copulate.

Watched by a small crowd, the insects don’t seem to be put off by the lack of privacy.“I’m starting to blush”, says Prof Alan Stewart, an ecologist at the University of Sussex, who is holding the tiny wriggling creatures in his palm.

The flightless female glow-worm uses a green light at the end of her abdomen - which glows due to a chemical reaction called bioluminescence - to attract a winged male suitor.

Others attend free guided walks, like this one, which is organised by the Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group near Hove.Christina came with her partner Matt after seeing the event advertised on social media.

“If you get a lot of them it’s like looking at a starry night but on the ground”, he says.Tonight, with the constant roar of traffic from the A27 in the background, the group find a handful of glowing females among the chalk grassland of the reserve and an abundance of males.

Prof Stewart is counting the population using simple traps fashioned from plastic drinks bottles that work like lobster pots.

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