Glowworm

For other uses, see Glowworm (disambiguation).

Glowworm or glow-worm is the common name for various groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females that glow through bioluminescence. They include members of the families Elateridae, Lampyridae, Phengodidae, and Rhagophthalmidae among beetles; as well as members of the genera Arachnocampa, Keroplatus, and Orfelia among keroplatid fungus gnats.

Beetles

Four families of beetles are bioluminescent. The wingless larviform females and larvae of these bioluminescent species are usually known as "glowworms". Winged males may or may not also exhibit bioluminescence. Their light may be emitted as flashes or as a constant glow, and usually range in color from green, yellow, to orange.[1] The families are closely related, and are all members of the click beetle superfamily, Elateroidea. Phylogenetic analyses have indicated that bioluminescence may have a single evolutionary origin among the families Lampyridae, Phengodidae, and Rhagophthalmidae; but is likely to have arisen independently among Elateridae.[2]

Phengodidae: Larvae or larviform female of the western banded glowworm (Zarhipis integripennis) 
Lampyridae: Female common glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca) from Assos, Turkey 
Lampyridae: Male common eastern firefly (Photinus pyralis) from Evansville, Indiana 
Elateridae: Male headlight click beetle (Pyrophorus noctilucus) from Jamaica 

Fungus gnats

Three genera of fungus gnats are bioluminescent, and known as "glowworms" in their larval stage. They produce a blue-green light.[1] The larvae spin sticky webs to catch food. They are found in caves, overhangs, rock cavities, and other sheltered, wet areas. They are usually classified under the family Keroplatidae, but this is not universally accepted and some authors place them under Mycetophilidae instead. Despite the similarities in function and appearance, the bioluminescent systems of the three genera are not homologous and are believed to have evolved separately.[2][3][4]

Two New Zealand glowworms (Arachnocampa luminosa) from the Waitomo Caves of New Zealand 

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Vadim Viviani. "Terrestrial Bioluminescence: Biological and Biochemical Diversity". Photobiological Sciences Online. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Yuichi Oba (2014). "Insect Bioluminescence in the Post-Molecular Biology Era". In Klaus H. Hoffmann. Insect Molecular Biology and Ecology. CRC Press. p. 94. ISBN 9781482231892.
  3. Vadim R. Viviani, J. Woodland Hastings, & Thérèse Wilson (2002). "Two bioluminescent diptera: the North American Orfelia fultoni and the Australian Arachnocampa flava. Similar niche, different bioluminescence systems". Photochemistry and Photobiology. 75 (1): 2227. doi:10.1562/0031-8655(2002)075<0022:TBDTNA>2.0.CO;2.
  4. Lisa M. Rigby & David J. Merritt (2011). "Roles of biogenic amines in regulating bioluminescence in the Australian glowworm Arachnocampa flava". Photochemistry and Photobiology. 214: 3286–3293. doi:10.1242/jeb.060509.

External links

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