In the north of New Zealand, not far from the town of Te Kuiti, there is one of the amazing masterpieces of nature - the Waitomo caves. Waitomo is a complex consisting of many underground formations. In total, the complex includes about 150 caves and grottoes.
This network of caves and grottoes is quite old, it is more than 2 million years old, so Waitomo is considered one of the oldest caves. For a long time the cave was at the bottom of the ocean, but when the water left, a whole world of tunnels opened up in front of us, decorated with stone and limestone formations of various shapes, underground rivers and ponds.
But the most interesting thing here is the amazing Glowworm cave or the cave of Fireflies. Here you can see and touch the real starry sky - thousands, millions of luminous dots can be seen above your head. Impressions from such a spectacle are amazing!
Such an amazing effect is created thanks to small insect mosquitoes of the Arachnocampa luminosa species. The larvae of Arachnocampa luminosa make special cobwebs with drops of sticky transparent liquid and hang them on the roof of the cave. Mosquitoes highlight droplets to attract small insects. As it turned out in practice, the illuminated cobwebs attract not only insects, but also tourists who climb into the depths of the cave to admire them.
Arachnocampa luminosa mosquitoes are endemic, they can be found only in New Zealand and Australia. Initially, these insects were called Bolitiphila, which meant “mushroom lovers”, and not for nothing, since the larvae can do without catching insects, they feed on mushroom spores. But in 1924 it was renamed Arachnocampa, translated from Latin - “spider larvae”, because of the unusual ability to weave nests of silk threads.
