Because female glow worms are flightless, colonies do not migrate fast, and the species has difficulties colonising new sites, particularly with increasing fragmentation of suitable habitats. If you know where glow-worms are, let the landowner know so they can preserve the habitat for them into the future. Get out and enjoy your local wildlife site! Whether you see a glow-worm or not experiencing nature at night is magical, you’re more likely to discover other crepuscular (dawn and dusk) and nocturnal species such as barn owls, bats, badgers and tawny owls.

Therefore, sites where they seem to have died out or where they have not been recorded cannot be written off based on a single night’s search, so perseverance is key! The two - or maybe even three -year gap between a mating and the subsequent appearance of an adult means you may find plenty on a site one year, yet few or none at all the next. They can also be glowing low down in the grass so don’t expect to see them from far away, scan the ground and vegetation as you move by. They can then move out of the cover to fluoresce, often climbing up grass stems to show off their glowing abdomen. Glow-worms are often seen near pathways or near short grass which moves into longer grass, then scrub or hedgerow. Look for gradients of vegetation that go from low lying vegetation to tall vegetation. Search for previous glow-worm records on sites near you using the iNaturalist app, the NBN Atlas or your local environmental records office for a rough guide of where they’ve been spotted (or not!) in the past. Check the lunar cycle - a female glow-worm’s light display is entangled with the brightness of the moon, so as to not compete with the luminosity of a full moon, glow-worms are more likely to glow during crescent moons.

Although more common in the south of England, glow worms are recorded around much of the UK. Research your local habitats - though they favour chalky or limestone areas, glow-worms have been reported in gardens, hedgerows or railway embankments, but also on cliffs, woodland rides and heathland.

Choose a still, warm night usually between June and mid-July.

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