Glowworm live

There are many bioluminescent invertebrates around the world that are known as "glowworms," but around home, the term refers to the larvae of fireflies that, when they detect vibrations made by an approaching predator or simply me, emit a bright flash in the grass or leaf litter. The young lightning bugs, which are actually beetles rather than flies or bugs, are thought to put on the light show as a warning to toads and other critters that might ingest them to find someone else to eat. The message is this: I'm poisonous... go away! I don't, of course, mean the adolescents any harm, but as I've watched them glow at night in the moist lawn, I've tried over and over again to capture their flashes, which can last as long as five seconds before petering out. This is a real challenge and success requires a tripod, a fast lens, manual focus, a long time exposure, and an inordinate amount of patience and totally dark images. You can't really predict where the glowworm will flash next and you can't easily induce the insect to put on a display, so I often make a guess and open the lens in what I hope is the right direction for five seconds. In about one of every ten or so shots I got semi-lucky. National Geographic isn't going to be clamoring for this picture, but at least it's a record that glowworms were here in the backyard where the woods meet the grass.