![]() Caves are an ideal environment for glowworms to thrive because they are dark with no wind and damp enough for prey to be present. In caves, the bioluminescent glowing can happen during both day and night because the habitat is dark. The most popular glowworm caves in New Zealand are in Te Anau and Waitomo. They most commonly live in caves, forests and other sheltered, damp areas. The species of glowworm that can be found in New Zealand is called Arachnocampa luminosa. Glowworm fact: Adult glowworm flies (fungus gnats) never get caught in these sticky webs because they aren’t attracted to the light plus, they are strong enough to pull away from the threads. As the insects are drawn to their glowing bioluminescent light, they fly toward it and into the sticky silk maze, where they get stuck for glowworms to eat – similar to how spiders capture their prey in webs. To capture their food, glowworms build a network of silk threads that hang vertically from their habitat that are covered in a sticky mucus. While glowworms are rather small, about the size of a matchstick, they prey on even smaller insects such as mayflies, midges, moths and flies. ![]()
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