![]() ![]() As night descends, they glow a radiant blue color to lure unsuspecting prey such as insects – either crawling or flying towards the decoy – that become ensnared in the sticky mesh of lines and paralyzed by chemicals in the mucus. These cave-dwellers have devised a devious tactic to trap their prey: They construct their own “fishing lines” made of silk with sticky mucous droplets that they can hang down from the ceiling these lines can extend as long as 20 inches in length. During the larval stage, which is the longest stage lasting up to 9 months, the larvae have to eat voraciously to last until the adult stage during which they cannot eat as they do not have mouths. These glowworms are the larvae that hatch out of eggs and eventually become adult two-winged insects that usually live only for a few days solely for the purpose of mating. The bioluminescent glowworms Arachnocampa luminosa, also known as fungus gnats, are about the size of a matchstick and found only in the dark and damp areas of New Zealand, particularly the Waitomo Caves, which have become a popular tourist attraction for its stunning starry spectacle. How many of these have you spotted before?ġ. ![]() Here are some of the few mesmerizing land creatures capable of glowing. Some glow only at specific times, for a few seconds only, while others glow constantly. Organisms glow for various reasons like attracting mates, warning predators, and finding food. Though the light emitted can come in different colors, the most common colors both in the sea and on land are blue and green but on land you can also see rare instances of yellow and even red. Nevertheless, there are some fascinating land creatures that have evolved the ability to produce light – mostly insects and fungi. While bioluminescence is widespread among marine organisms, it’s rare on land, and evolved millions of years later. This process requires energy but bioluminescence is amazingly efficient: less than 20 percent of the light is wasted as heat and for this reason it is often referred to as “cold light”. Luciferase acts upon the reaction between luciferin and oxygen to give a new compound generating the light that we see. The reaction involves an enzyme known as luciferase, a molecule called luciferin, and a molecule of oxygen. The seemingly magical ability to emit your own light – a phenomenon called bioluminescence – is actually produced by a chemical reaction inside the organism. Our first, or only, experience of glowing animals is probably being allured by the dazzling light show staged by fireflies. But I also want to occasionally post some interesting and fun science facts so I have put together this amazing list. I’ve published ten posts on my blog so far and all of them are based on scientific journal articles.
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