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Worm Light, Glows Bright!

What do a light bulb and a glow-worm have in common? Both glow! Glow-worms emit a ‘cold’ greenish-blue light. It will surprise you to know that a glow-worm is not a worm. It is an insect!
In U.K., ‘glow-worm’ is the name of a beetle, Lampyris Noctiluca. The female is wingless and looks like a ‘worm’. The beetle glows from the bottom segments. This happens as lucerifin (a waste product) reacts with atmospheric oxygen with the help of an enzyme, luciferace. Lucerifin is oxidized to form oxylucerifin. The male beetle and the larvae also ‘glow’, but not as brightly as the female. The beetle larvae love to have a hearty meal of healthy slugs and snails!
In Australia and New Zealand, the ‘glow-worm’ is the larva of a large mosquito-like fly. It glows at its tail tip when the waste product ‘lucerifin’ comes into contact with oxygen. Long silky threads dangle vertically from mucous tubes in which the larvae live. These threads are dotted with sticky mucous drops. The larvae ‘glow’ enticingly. Woe betide any insect that touches the web!
Plants, fungi, animals and insects that emit light are said to be bioluminescent. So next time you need light just put a handful of glow-worms into a jar. This is NOT a joke. Need proof? Soldiers in trenches during World War I read maps with the help of glow-worm ‘lights’!

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Dimdima is the Sanskrit word for ‘drumbeat’. In olden days, victory in battle was heralded by the beat of drums or any important news to be conveyed to the people used to be accompanied with drumbeats.

Dimdima.com

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
K. M Munshi Marg,
Chowpatty, Mumbai - 400 007
email : editor@dimdima.com

Dimdima Magazine

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
505, Sane Guruji Marg,
Tardeo, Mumbai - 400 034
email : promo@dimdima.com

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Dimdima.com, the Children's Website of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan launched in 2000 and came out with a Printed version of Dimdima Magazine in 2004. At present the Printed Version have more than 35,000 subscribers from India and Abroad.

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