When you step into Waitomo Cave on the island of New Zealand, if you're an uninformed friend, looking up may be like a nineteenth-century explorer who thinks you've seen the stars.
The true face of these stars is actually the small fungus (Arachnocampa luminosa), also known as blue bugs, New Zealand fireflies, burrowing fireflies, but although they have the name of fireflies, they actually belong to the family Keroplatidae, in other words, mosquitoes are their relatives compared to fireflies of the Coleoptera family (Lampyridae).
And these shining on the top of the cave are the larvae of the small fungus gnat, which spit silk and weave nests at the top of the cave, and hang up to 70 sticky silks up to 40 centimeters long, waiting for the unlucky ghost to bump into it and become today's hard-won dinner.
Interestingly, people often misunderstand that these silk threads are like LED bulbs, but in fact, the light produced by small fungi gnats in the organism through chemical reactions is called bioluminescence. This phenomenon is found in many marine or terrestrial animals, as well as fungi, especially in bacteria (Vibrio and Enterobacteriaceae), protozoa and some animals. Luminescent bacteria usually infect dwarf mosquitoes in the family Diptera (Midges) and sometimes the larvae of mosquitoes (Pygaceae).
Bioluminescence is a cold light that is usually produced in special tissues or organs, and sometimes even liquid luminescence is sprayed on predators. In insects, bioluminescence is prevalent mainly in the family Fireflies, but it is also known in this order that luminescence occurs in the family Cerambycidae, Carnivorous Firefly, Cerambycidae and Diptera. However, this magical ability is not currently available to humans.
These glowing insects use their light to attract females, provide nutrients, and sometimes act as a defense, as the blood of fireflies contains glycosides that are very toxic to predators. In addition to this, this glow may also have a warning function. The blue-green or simple blue light emitted by the small fungus gnat's larvae seems particularly suitable for catching small aquatic prey. Studies have shown that this luminescence plays a role in communication between adult insects.
The entire lifespan of this insect is 10 to 11 months, and only the larval stage ingests food, accumulating enough nutrients to survive in the pupal and adult stages. The pupae are suspended vertically by a filament and are about 15 to 18 mm long. During this time, it remains glowing while the male's glow stops 2 to 3 days before hatching. Pupalation lasts 12 to 13 days, and when the adult emerges from the pupal shell, it remains stationary until its wings are dry. Adults are able to fly after drying, and female adults lose their ability to shine at the beginning of egg laying.
The small fungus gnats are small diptera insects slightly larger than the size of mosquitoes. Males are smaller and thinner than females. In short, at the larval stage, luminescence attracts prey, and in the adult or pupal stage, luminescence attracts the opposite sex.
Under the photographer's long exposure skillful hand, the entire population of small fungal gnats is like a wonderful star-covered vault of Waitomo Cave, shining with fairytale blue light. As Peter Milward once said: "Let them come to this starry earth with their horror and crawl - into the twinkling light of the stars that lead us forward." "These little beings are signaling to humanity that we are witnessing this natural miracle.