Common glow-worm
Lampyris noctiluca
Also called: Common European glow-worm
At a glance
- Flash
- No flash — the flightless female emits a steady green glow to attract flying males
- Habitat
- Grassland, hedgerows and woodland edges, often on chalky soils
- Range
- Across Europe and into Central Asia
- Season
- Midsummer nights (roughly June–July)
- Size
- Female up to ~25 mm; the flying male is smaller
- When active
- Late evening through the middle of the night
Overview
In this species it is the female that glows. She is larviform and wingless, and on a midsummer night she climbs a grass stem and raises the tip of her abdomen, shining a steady green light upward to call in the flying males. It is a continuous lantern, not a flash — one of the quiet marvels of a European summer.
The males fly and have large eyes tuned to find that single green point in the dark. Neither sex feeds as an adult; all their energy went into the year or two the larvae spent hunting snails in the undergrowth. A steady glow low in the grass, held for many minutes, is almost certainly this species.
Sightings logged here
1,415 sightings of this species have been logged on Alitaptap.
When they have been seen
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 5 | 22 | 129 | 183 | 375 | 308 | 140 | 140 | 100 | 9 | 2 |
Most reported in June.
61% of these 1415 records were made in May, June, and July.
This shows when 1415 records were made, not when fireflies fly. A place people only visit in one season looks seasonal for that reason alone, so treat a thin month as “nobody looked” rather than “nothing there”.
Where people saw it
- Álava, Spain
- Velem, HU
- St. Nikolai ob Draßling, Austria
- Bamberg, Germany
- CZ-SK, CZ
- Česko
Where and when it has been seen
| Place | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Álava, Spain | iNaturalist → | |
| Velem, HU | iNaturalist → | |
| St. Nikolai ob Draßling, Austria | iNaturalist → | |
| 56.03, 44.26 | iNaturalist → | |
| 56.03, 44.25 | iNaturalist → | |
| Bamberg, Germany | iNaturalist → | |
| CZ-SK, CZ | iNaturalist → | |
| Česko | iNaturalist → | |
| Innsbruck, Austria | iNaturalist → | |
| Sakhalvasho, Georgia | iNaturalist → | |
| 50.24, 5.52 | iNaturalist → | |
| Stojai, Lietuva | iNaturalist → | |
| St. Gilgen, Austria | iNaturalist → | |
| 44.61, 39.10 | iNaturalist → | |
| Chęciny, Polska | iNaturalist → | |
| Gaal, Austria | iNaturalist → | |
| Gamprin, Liechtenstein | iNaturalist → | |
| 48.48, -2.69 | iNaturalist → | |
| Police County, Poland | iNaturalist → | |
| 43.10, 23.31 | iNaturalist → |
Showing the 20 most recent of 1415 records.
Browse all sightings →How to identify
A steady, non-blinking green light low in the grass on a warm summer night is the female glow-worm. If it isn't blinking, it's very likely Lampyris.
Conservation
Declining across much of Europe. Light pollution is a direct threat — artificial light drowns out the female's glow so males can't find her. Volunteer glow-worm surveys track the trend.
Photographs
Sources & further reading
Photographs load live from Wikimedia Commons and remain © their photographers under the licences shown.