Glow Worm Facts

Glow Worm Facts

Image source:  http://flickr.com/photos/19935963@N00

1. There is something completely alluring about glow worms. The clustered points of  bluish light decorating the steep cliffs next to a water-fall, or covering the ceiling in the darkness of caves, is a fascinating and beautiful sight.

2. Glow worms are immature flies-the equivalent of the wriggler or larval stage of a mosquito. The larvae are quite long-lived, taking many months to grow large enough to pupate and then emerge as flying adults.

3. The adults resemble large, slow-flying mosquitoes. They are very short-lived, only surviving a week or so: just long enough to mate and for the female to lay eggs.

4. The adult glow worms of Australian species don't glow, but adult females of the New Zealand species do produce a blue light. Once hatched, the tiny larvae are capable of glowing immediately. 

5. They male a small mucous tube and hang "fishing lines" from it. The fishing lines are made of silk and are coated with a series of sticky mucus drops that entangle any insect that flies or stumbles into the web.

6. Glow worms are not worms, but insects.

7. The adult glow worm cannot eat because it has no mouth.

8. It can take the female up to 24 hours to lay her eggs.

9. A male adult glow worm lives for 5 days, but the female only lives for 2 days.

10. The larva stage of the insect is the only stage that eats anything.

11. The larva can last for several months without eating.

12. The glow worm larva is more like a maggot than a worm.

13. The female lays about 130 eggs and dies immediately afterwards.

14. Glow worms are cannibals! 

15. The female glow worm is generally larger than the male.

16. They do not have to look for food - it comes to them. It is attracted by their glow.

17. They catch their food in sticky fishing lines that they hang down.

18. They eat meat, usually other insects. 

19. A glow worm lives for 10-11 months from birth to death.

20. A glow worm spends up to 7months of its life glowing in the larva stage.

21. The glow worm fly (adult) is a poor flyer.

22. Glow worms live in dark , damp places like caves and river banks.

23. The Maori name for the glow worm is “pura toke” (blind or one eyed worm).

24. It’s awesome adaptations are wings that help them fly in the night time sky, and it’s glowing light.

25. Glowworms are the larval stage in the life of an insect called the fungus gnat. Just as maggots grow into common houseflies, glowworms grow to become fungus gnats, which are similar to mosquitoes. 

26. Although they are most spectacular in caves, glowworms are also quite common outside-they can be found wherever conditions are damp, food is in good supply and there is an overhanging wall. 

27. Similar glowworms can also be found in the south-east of Australia. The scientific name of the New Zealand species is Arachnocampa luminosa.

28. The New Zealand glowworm is one of many creatures that naturally produce light (bioluminescense). 

29. The light of the glowworm larvae is given off by small tubes ending around the glowworms anus, as a byproduct of excretion. A reaction takes place between an enzyme called luciferase and other chemicals, with the blue-green light given off as a result.

30. The light is used to attract insects lost in the dark, which the glowworm catches and eats. If a glowworm is hungry its light will shine a little brighter and is even more effective!

31. When the female glowworm becomes an adult the light is used to attract males for mating.

32. Four stages are involved in the life cycle of the glowworm; the egg changes to larva, then to pupa, and finally to the adult flies (which lays more eggs).

33. The entire cycle takes 10-11 months to complete, most of which is spent in the larval stage. Although glowworms can be found at all stages of the cycle at any time, more eggs are hatched into larvae during winter than any other time.

34. The glowworm, or fungus gnat, displays a bright blue light throughout the larval stage.

35. The male has a special liquid that he can squirt the predator to get away and to kill the pray. People use spray to get rid of bugs so, it also kills them.

36. You probably have seen a bunch of different interesting facts about glow worms, but here’s two more.  Firefly has the word “fly” in it, but it’s a beetle.

37. It has a softer exoskeleton than other beetles.  The photinus pyralins is a very interesting insect.