Female glow-worms attract more mates and are more likely to have lots of offspring the brighter their abdomens glow, scientists have found.

Naturalists have long known that the male common European glow-worm is drawn to potential mates by the green luminescence of their “lanterns”.

Scientists in Finland made traps mimicking the glimmer of female glow-worms out of plastic bottles and green lights. Males, which unlike their female counterparts can fly, were much more likely to choose the brighter dummies.

Females with larger and brighter lanterns — translucent segments of their abdomens filled with a substance called luciferin that shines brightly when it reacts with oxygen — had bigger bodies and significantly more eggs, the researchers found.

“Our results suggest that male glow-worms prefer females with