The influence of female body weight on egg production in the glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

By John Horne, Alison Horne & John Tyler

ABSTRACT The initial body weights of adult female glow-worms collected from the wild showed strong correlations with both the number of eggs produced and their mean weight. A female’s weight appeared to have little effect on her adult lifespan. Decreases in both the weight of females and the number of eggs they laid were observed during the course of the glowing season, but more study is needed to confirm the cause.

Keywords: Glow-worms, , egg production, egg weight, body weight