Arachnocampa luminosa | |
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Glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) and silk snares | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Keroplatidae |
Genus: | Arachnocampa |
Species: | A. luminosa
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Binomial name | |
Arachnocampa luminosa (Skuse, 1891)
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Synonyms | |
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Arachnocampa luminosa (Skuse, 1891), commonly known as New Zealand glowworm or simply glowworm, is a species of fungus gnat endemic to New Zealand. The larval stage and the imago produce a blue-green bioluminescence.[2] The species is known to dwell in caves and on sheltered banks in native bush where humidity is high.[3] Its Māori name is titiwai, meaning "projected over water".[citation needed]
The first written record of the species dates from 1871 when it was collected from a gold mine in New Zealand's Thames region. 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.[2] The species was first formally described in 1891 with the species name Bolitiphila luminosa and was assigned to the family Mycetophilidae.[4] 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.