Explore "Luminous Insects" by Frank R. Stockton on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The fire-flies that flit about so merrily on our pleasant summer evenings, emit little sparkles of light, that seem like tiny stars, shining among the grass and trees. Sometimes the air is full of these twinkling lights, which are very pretty, though not sufficiently brilliant to help us to find our way on a dark night, or to bring into our houses to save the expense of candles or kerosene.
Occasionally we see, at night, in the grass by the roadside, or in a field, a very small trail of a bright-green light; and, on stooping down to examine into this singular appearance, we find on the ground an insignificant little ugly worm, to which Nature has given the power of producing a lovely colored light. These glow-worms are somewhat rare in this country, but are common in England, where our fire-fly is unknown. The glow-worms of tropical countries are as large as good-sized caterpillars, and give out a light of corresponding size.