Glowworm

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Glowworm

Glow worm is the common name for various different groups of insect larva

Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
and adult larviform female

Larviform female

Larviform female is biological phenomenon occurring in some species, where the females in the adult stage of metamorphosis resemble the larvae to various degrees....
s which glow through bioluminescence

Bioluminescence

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy....
. They may sometimes resemble worm

Worm

A worm is a common name given to a diverse group of invertebrate animals that have a long, soft body and no legs. There are hundreds of thousands of species of worms, 2,700 of these are earthworms....
s, but all are insects (Arachnocampa being a fly

Fly

True flies are insects of the Order Diptera , possessing a single pair of insect wing on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax....
and all the others being beetle

Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
s). The major families are:

The glow in the former two groups is a yellow-green colour. The so-called railroad worm

Railroad worm

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Glowworm'

Start a new discussion about 'Glowworm'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Glow worm is the common name for various different groups of insect larva

Larva

Larviform female

Bioluminescence

Worm

Fly

Beetle

Lampyridae (fireflies), found around the world. The wingless adult female is the glowworm of literature, especially Lampyris noctiluca
Lampyris noctiluca

Lampyris noctiluca, the Common Glow-worm of Europe , is a firefly species of the genus Lampyris. These are beetles as evidenced by the hard cases that fold over the wings when not in use....
(the "Glow-worm" proper of British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
) found in the most of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. In this species the male flies but does not glow. In some areas, a Firefly
Firefly

Lampyridae is a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles, and commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous crepuscular use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey....
can also refer to members of the Luciola
Lucíola

Luc?ola is an urban fiction novel written by the Brazilian writer Jos? de Alencar. It was first published in 1862. It treats mainly of the Brazilian Empire society, exploring its deficient morality....
family found commonly throughout Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, in which both the males and the flightless females glow.

Phengodidae
Phengodidae

The beetle family Phengodidae is known also as glowworm beetles, whose larvae are known as glowworms. The females and larvae have bioluminescence organs....
, found in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
.

Arachnocampa
Arachnocampa

Arachnocampa is a genus of four fungus gnat species which are, in their larval stage, glowworms. They are found mostly in New Zealand and Australia in caves and grottos, or sheltered places in forests....
(formerly called Bolitiphila), found in New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
.

The glow in the former two groups is a yellow-green colour. The so-called railroad worm

Railroad worm

A railroad worm is a larva or larviform female adult of a beetle of the genus Phrixothrix in the family Phengodidae, characterized by their unique possession of two different colors of bioluminescence....
s in the Phengodidae family have an additional red light at their head. The fly larvae produce a blue-green colour. The glow is produced by different organs in the different families, suggesting they evolved

Evolution

In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
separately, though several other beetle families in the superfamily Cantharoidea exhibit bioluminescence, suggesting a single origin within this lineage, so the Lampyrids and Phengodids do apparently share a common bioluminescent ancestor. The chemical reaction in each case is very efficient

Luminous efficacy

Luminous efficacy is a figure of merit for light sources. It is the ratio of luminous flux to power . As most commonly used, it is the ratio of luminous flux emitted from a light source to the electric power consumed by the source, and thus describes how well the source does at providing visible light from a given amount of electricity....
; nearly 100% of the energy input is turned into light (compared to the best light-emitting diode

Light-emitting diode

A light-emitting diode , is an electronic light source. The LED was discovered in the early 20th century, and introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962....
s at just 22%).

The purpose of the glow varies. Those adult females which glow do so to attract a male for mating. The Lampyridae larvae are believed to glow as a warning signal (see aposematism

Aposematism

Aposematism , perhaps most commonly known in the context of warning colouration, describes a family of antipredator adaptations where a warning signal is associated with the unprofitability of a prey item to potential predation....
) to predators like toad

Toad

A toad can refer to a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura. A distinction is often made between frogs and toads by their appearance, prompted by the convergent evolution among so-called "toads" to dry habitats....
s not to eat them as they're mildly toxic. But the Arachnocampa
Arachnocampa

Arachnocampa is a genus of four fungus gnat species which are, in their larval stage, glowworms. They are found mostly in New Zealand and Australia in caves and grottos, or sheltered places in forests....
larvae on the other hand glow to attract prey like midge

Midge (insect)

Midges comprise many kinds of very small two-winged flies. The term does not encapsulate a well-defined taxonomic group, but includes animals in several family of Nematocera Diptera....
s into sticky snare lines for the larva to feed on.

Glowworm

See also