a master of sorcery that also eats slugs!

They are often named glow flies, glow worms and lightening bugs but the Italian glow fly's real name is Luciola italica and comes from the family Lampyridae, of which there around 2,000 different varieties in the temperate and tropical regions of the world. Italy has a rather large concentration of this species of glow fly, due to the fact there are still many intact habitats and balanced ecosystems, capable of sustaining this amazing creature.

The glowfly's amazing power to produce light is a means by which the male glow fly attracts a mate and from June onwards through early summer, male glow flies can be seen illuminating their rear ends by cleverly combining 2 chemicals to produce light. The sole aim of this chemical sorcery is to attract the females but the whole mating process makes up just a small percentage of this insects fascinating life-cycle.

The glowfly can only survive in extremely balanced ecosystems, where it can find its preferred food, surprisingly... the garden snail. It lives mainly in wild meadow areas and moist areas in which it can breed. Using a specially adapted mouthpart, the larvae of the glowfly is able to penetrate the hard shell of the snail and feast upon the, usually well-protected, snail flesh. This renders the glow fly a superb ally of the gardener, in that it helps keep down snail populations in the garden, let alone providing an amazing spectacle in the garden on a summers night. The presence of the glowfly in your Italian garden stands as a clear indication that your garden is balanced and pesticides have not been used there for quite some time!

CONTACT ECOLOGICA HERE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE ON THE NATURAL ITALIAN GARDEN