Upon hatching, the cylindrical larva immediately begins to glow. The spherical eggs (0.75mm in diameter) are usually deposited directly onto the cave wall. These include the caves in Waitomo, Waipu, Inglewood and Te Anau, and also in areas of native vegetation such as the Wellington Botanical Gardens. Some sites have become popular destinations for tourists wanting to see the glowworms. Distribution Īrachnocampa luminosa is widespread in both the North and the South Island of New Zealand although populations generally occur in cave systems and in native bush where prey species are available and humidity is high. It was given the genus name (meaning "spider-worm") on the basis of its building a silk nest and using silk threads to capture prey. In 1924, it was placed within a new genus of its own, Arachnocampa, because the wing venation of the adults and the behaviour of the larvae differed significantly from other Bolitophila fly species. The species was first formally described in 1891 with the species name Bolitiphila luminosa and was assigned to the family Mycetophilidae. At first it was thought to be related to the European glowworm beetle ( Lampyris noctiluca) but, in 1886, a Christchurch teacher showed it was a larva of a gnat, not a beetle. The first written record of the species dates from 1871 when it was collected from a gold mine in New Zealand's Thames region. Its Māori name is titiwai, meaning "projected over water". The species is known to dwell in caves and on sheltered banks in native bush where humidity is high. The larval stage and the imago produce a blue-green bioluminescence. Arachnocampa luminosa (Skuse, 1891), commonly known as New Zealand glowworm or simply glowworm, is a species of fungus gnat endemic to New Zealand.
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