#glowworms

[lionfloss]

Glowworms, New Zealand by Shaun Jeffers

#nature #photography #glowworms #glow #cave #water #blue #dark #night #new zealand #nature photography

[goldenrubygirl9]

Trying to figure out the exact species of the JATGP bugs (and also cool bug facts!)

(Warning: pictures of bugs)

I’m gonna start with ya boi:

Mr. Grasshopper:

First of all, I love him and I wanna be him

Grasshoppers are the only herbivores of the 6 bugs. Uh. Yeah.

Grasshoppers have camouflage! And they can fly just a little bit, but their strong hind legs do most of the work.

Since Mr. Grasshopper is green and British I’m going to infer that he is a Omocestus viridulus, AKA the common green grasshopper

Literally the same guy.

The common green grasshopper is from Britain, and, like the name suggests, common. Very common, in fact. I think they’re like the second most common grasshopper in Britain (most common one isn’t green)

Mrs. Ladybug!

She’s so sweet msmfjrjgjggjjgfjf

FIRST OF ALL, IN BRITAIN LADYBUGS ARE CALLED “LADYBIRDS”

WHICH IS STUPID BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FUCKING BIRDS

In related news, ladybugs are actually a type of beetle. Sorry for ruining your life.

Ladybugs eat aphids and scale insects (little tiny insects idk) and also pollen and nectar. Not peaches though.

Anyways considering the fact that she is red and has black spots, I’m gonna say she’s probably a Coccinella septempunctata AKA the Seven-Spotted Ladybug. They are just THE ladybugs of all time.

Very cool. Also easy asf. These ladybugs can play dead when threatened and also they are real pretty.

Mr. Centipede:

Silly billy he’s always been my favourite especially in the book he has a goofy little smile

Centipedes are venomous and carnivores. They eat anything they can overpower with their venom. Centipedes are nocturnal, because they dry out VERY easily in the daytime. They usually either don’t have eyes or have shit eyesight. They also have no ears. They “hear” by sensing vibrations in the ground.

This one was a little bit difficult because centipedes don’t vary all that much, but I’m thinking Lithobius forficatus, AKA the garden/brown/stone centipede.

They have many names. They are also very common, especially in North America and the UK. Garden centipedes are born with 7 pairs of legs, and grow legs throughout their life, maxing out at 15 pairs of legs (they always have an odd number of leg pairs) They live under rocks, and if someone lifts those rocks, these centipedes are in luck, because they’re also very good at running. I THINK they have eyes, but if they do, their eyes can only discern light from dark.

Stone centipedes mostly eat flies, springtails, and, uh. Earthworms. But us JATGP Musical fans knew that

Mrs. Spider:

Y’all know spiders I will not explain them. Also I’m scared of spiders so I will NOT show many pictures of them *shudder*

Mrs. Spider could be literally any spider in France. The only spider that’s black with white stripes like this is a zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) and they don’t actually look like her that much. But they’re cute as fuck❤️

I wish I could show you a picture but mobile Tumblr has a maximum of 10 photos per post, but they’re really cute and fluffy.

Anyways, I feel like she’s more likely to be a Steatoda grossa, AKA Cupboard Spider, but they look more scary so I’m not gonna show photos.

But only the males are black and white.

Fuck uhh

Okayy she’s possibly an Araneus nordmanni, AKA Nordmann’s Orbweaver. They’re really scary and I wanna cry but I’ll try to describe them. Black with brown legs, weird white pattern, giant ass. These spiders do exist in France, but they are very rare. (Not just in France, but in general.) They are VERY GOOD at climbing and tend to build webs high on trees (like in a dead peach tree. Maybe with their mate.) They eat insects like gnats, flies, and wasps. Good for them. I’m still terrified.

Also female Araneus nordmanni are apparently the dominant party in the relationship so…

…yeah she’s definitely a Nordman’s Weaver.

Mr. Earthworm:

OH THANK GOD I CAN STOP LOOKING AT SPIDERS AND LOOK AT THESE CUTIE PIE WORMS!!!!

Earthworms are boneless, muscleless, eyeless silly billies. They’re also hermaphrodites (male AND female at the same time) and they can regenerate parts of their bodies (not always so please don’t go around cutting worms in half) They eat fruit, fungi, and anything decaying.

So, I don’t remember the whole movie or the book, but in the musical, Earthworm speaks Spanish sometimes, and his song is vaguely Latin-esque (our director gave him a mariachi jacket for Plump & Juicy. It might not actually be Latin-esque that’s just what I’ve been told if it isn’t then oopsies) so I always thought he was from like Central America, maybe Mexico?

How did a worm get from Mexico to Britain? Guess what: Most earthworms in Mexico are invasive and from other places! Which means it could happen the other way around, but also it means that doesn’t narrow down what species of worm Earthworm is! Fuck!

He’s probably supposed to be a Lumbricus terrestris (The common European Earthworm.)

They are the most common worms. Everywhere. But other than species and location, nothing connects this earthworm to THE Earthworm.

So I propose a much funnier idea: That he is some species of Amynthas.

There isn’t enough info about the Amynthas for me to figure out exactly which species of Amynthas he probably is, but look it has a smooth white clitellum like Earthworm!!

So there are 3 reasons why I feel like Earthworm is an Amynthas. 1. Appearance. 2. They are part of the family Megascolecidae, which are the largest family of earthworms (They do say he is a big worm, although that’s probably because he’s literally human-sized)

And 3. These worms are also called Jumping worms. Because they. Uh.

They jump. When they are scared. It’s REALLY funny.

Most Amynthas are from Asia, but somehow a bunch ended up in Mexico. And now I guess one ended up in Britain. And then New York. Invasive species behaviour. (Actually a lot of the JATGP insects are invasive)

Take your pick of worm!

(Also Glowworm is a Lampyris noctiluca, AKA common glow-worm. If you even care. Nobody cares abt Glowworm. How dare you. And James is probably a human boy.)

And that is all thanks guys heart emoji

#james and the giant peach musical #james and the giant peach #insects #cool insects #grasshopper #ladybugs #centipedes #spiders #worms #glowworms #beetles

[bonefall]

Glowworms

(because i keep getting asked about them)

[ID: An adult female glowworm of the species Lampyris noctiluca. It has a bright green glow and clings to a plant.]

Before I even get started, let me lay down some education on the entire Lampyridae family so that we're all on the same page about the specific species that I'm going to talk about for the UK. I've done more research on this topic than the last time I brought it up, and I come bearing knowledge

Lampyridae is a family of beetles, descended from a bio-luminescent ancestor. There are more than 2000 species of Lampyridae, and they can be VERY different. This family is called "fireflies," "glowworms," and "lightningbugs" but ALL of those common names are AWFUL for referring to the full family becaaaaaauuuusee...

Not all lampyridae can fly

Not all lampyridae can glow as adults

Not all lampyridae light up passively; some use it as a lure or a warning

Not all lampyridae light up during flight

In the US, our most iconic species light up during flight, and our most common species have males and females capable of flight. So when I'm talking about "glowworms," remember that those traits are not shared by ALL species of Lampyridae, and especially not this one.

The UK has one species of glowing Lampyridae, Lampyris noctiluca, the Common Glowworm. There's one other, non-glowing species but it's extremely rare and only in the south, and an occasional visitor from mainland Europe.

GLOWWORMS

Only the female lights up, and her final stage is not capable of flight. This is called a "larviform female," because she looks like the wormy adolescent stage that all Lampyridae go through.

The female will climb up to the highest blade of grass she can find and wiggle her butt around until a male, who CAN fly and does NOT glow, finds her. Then she lays eggs and dies.

So because the adults do not eat and quickly die after reproduction, most of a glowworm's life is spent as a larva.

The larval glowworm is a SPECIALIZED predator of gastropods. They hunt snails and slugs for ONE or TWO YEARS (depending on how much food there was in the first year), hibernating over the winter, then waking up and doing it again. All movement in the species is done by the larvae; they have a REALLY hard time establishing new colonies because of this.

This is NOT a pioneer species. You need to have undisturbed grass, moor, or heath, no pesticides, not overgrazed, not brightly lit, for generations of these insects AND their prey. It's REALLY easy to decimate the glowworm population in an area via carelessness.

(let alone the horror story in the Glowworm Survey page where a tiny colony was intentionally destroyed, which is why they have a policy about keeping quiet on reports of certain colonies except to researchers ;_;)

so LOOK AT ME

HOLDING YOU BY THE SHOULDERS

You need to protect glowworm populations when you can. If you ever briefly hear posts in passing shouting about sterile lawns, light pollution, and pesticides, THIS IS WHY. If you live on the island and feel like there's a shit ton of slugs in your garden for some reason? Might be because these factors killed off their specialized predators, leaving you with an unfilled ecological niche.

Environment

Hypothetically, glowworms should be distributed all across Great Britain, except the Scottish highlands, though they have the strongest concentration in southern England.

Functionally, their population is incredibly fragmented. They need tall grass or heather, low light pollution, undisturbed (no pesticide) land, and lots of gastropods to eat. While they can work with forest verges and railways, places for them to thrive are getting rarer and rarer in the UK.

So to restate their very specific environmental needs;

Undisturbed land Glowworms and construction don't mix. Pollution, pesticides, and destruction can destroy the little patches of land glowworms have left. They need up to two years to go from eggs to adults, and a safe place for that to happen in.

A population of gastropods Baby glowworms eat slugs and snails. Because of that, they can't live where it's too dry.

Tall grasses, shrubs, or heathers, but not TOO tall A tree won't do! Glowworms do not live in trees! The females need a tall stalk to climb to the top of, so that they can signal to flying males. At the same time, they can't hunt or find each other in a savanna or a wheat field. Well-managed heathlands are excellent habitat for glowworms.

Low light pollution If it's too bright, males can't find females. Highways with heavy traffic, urban areas, and anything else that gives off constant light will affect the glowworm population.

They glow in June to May, in summer, at night. You won't find glowworms in winter, as all the larvae are hibernating at that time.

BB FAQ

When I determine if something will show up in the Better Bones AU and my Clan Culture expansions, I use iNaturalist to suss out if people are seeing it in the modeled region. Lads, there is a bald spot in my modeled regions. It's almost comical. The closest is in DERBYSHIRE, RIGHT out of reach.

So I'm still unsure about adding them. For now, they are not in BB. I GOT A REPORT FROM A FAN I will be adding them to BB.

"How do Clan cats feel about them?" They're unfathomnably holy, especially because they spend their larval stage eating snails which can be used in divination rituals. WindClan in particular considers themselves blessed for living around them.

"Can you use glowworms to light up the night?" Yes but that's really bad for their populations; leave them be! Clan cats wouldn't use something so holy in such a trivial way.

"Can you eat glowworms?" No they taste really bad. The chemical that makes them light up is REALLY bitter, and it's present in both the larvae and adults. Plus Clan cats wouldn't eat something so holy.

#glowworms #ecological overhauls #better bones au

[karrova]

Glowworm silk strings, source unknown

#glowworms #glow worms #caves #cave #m

[layaart]

a glowworm

#gonna be.....glow in the dark sticker. hopefully. #glowworms #new zealand #caves #original

[jms-viriato]

Las 'estrellas' atrapadas en las cuevas de Waitomo

Las cuevas de Waitomo, en Nueva Zelanda, son conocidas porque en su interior habitan unas extrañas criaturas, los glowworms (gusanos luminosos), que producen luz para atraer a sus presas y así poder alimentarse.

Estos puntos luminosos hacen que el techo de la cueva parezca un cielo estrellado. Es un espectáculo único y que merece la pena conocer.

#cuevas #waitomo #estrellas #criaturas #glowworms #gusanosluminosos #luz #JMS

[manydeer]

#bioluminescence #caves #new zealand #glowworms

[mbhfaesthetic]

Tomáš Malík

#cave #caves #glow #otorohanga #glowworms #glowworm #green glow #cave worms #nature #cave fauna #cave life #new zealand #travel #curators on tumblr #nature photography

[falderaletcetera]

something sweet for tumblr in general and @tamlin-the-ninth and @trivalentlinks especially, if either of you want it:

we don't get fireflies where I live. except that we kind of do.

when I was a kid, my dad had the occasional slightly unusual idea for family fun. he's a wine-maker, so one time he took us all out to the downs to pick gorse, which is a lot like picking blackberries (complete with pricks) except that you don't get to eat them along the way (which I don't anyway, so I appreciated the novelty.) I don't know how it was for my siblings, but he successfully tricked me into thinking it was the best fun ever, and collected the several gallons of tiny gorse flowers he needed.

(it's still one of my favourite places in the world - the cliff just ends right by the sea, which stretches on forever, so it feels like the edge of the world.)

then there were the times, always at a certain time of year, always at night - making it exciting already - where we'd be driven out somewhere special for a walk. we didn't use torches, and sometimes we'd have to pick our way around the quiet looming shapes of cows, which anyone who's seen one cow get curious and start a stampede can tell you is a slightly tense affair. and we went there to spot glowworms.

with the species here, it's the males that fly and the females that glow. some years the grass hadn't been cut in a while, so the tiny lights of them were much harder to spot; other years it was easier. always there would be bits of chalk standing out brightly in the grass that you'd squint at and think might be a glowworm until you get closer. always the first time you really see one, you'll know it for sure.

so we'd walk, and we'd call them out as we spotted them for the others to see too, and sometimes we'd catch a glimpse that would be immediately hidden behind shifting grass and we'd end up craning our necks on the spot in an effort to find it again; and sometimes the more sure-footed of us would walk out from the path - careful of both glowworms and cowpats - to spot them closer up. we didn't take anything, didn't do anything, just called them out excitedly to each other and kept count.

and it was magic.

(in the first year of the pandemic, as one of my healthier coping strategies, I started going for night-time walks along a route I wasn't familiar with. it turned out to lead to the sea if I kept on long enough, and there was a cat along one road who was friendlier than any cat should be at three in the morning. the route also ran right past a few farmer's fields.

until then I'd only seen glowworms in the place my father took us, and the streetlight glinted off the grass at the edge of this field in a way that made it easy to second-guess myself the first few times, but after a week or so there were more. they were real and they there and they were glorious. it was an unexpected and welcome gift from the world.)

they don't tend to photograph well, or at least my dad hasn't managed it with his much fancier camera. here's my best attempt so far.

I looked it up, and their family is Lampyridae, which wikipedia does call fireflies. colloquially, I tend to say that we have glowworms instead of fireflies, and that seems accurate too. but we do have these, and we hunted down and plotted out the constellations in the grass with the love and the wonder they warranted.

#this is my Don't Feel Bad For Us thesis so it seemed appropriate to wax a little poetic #like I would ideally love to see real fireflies one day but also this was more than most ppl in my country got I think #okay maybe feel bad for those of us without access to downland and mildly eccentric dads #looking them up I think the ones we saw might have been lesser glow worms - it seems unlikely they were more than 1cm long #but to answer trivalent: we have rural areas (here at least)‚ we just get slightly different species! #and actually if either of you see fireflies again I wouldn't mind hearing about it <3 #falderal speaks #glowworms #glow-worms #fireflies #posting this before I lose my nerve

[ramblingsofaporcelainheart]

Flickering luminescence,

beauty from nature’s lowest

The loveliest part of a life

Born out of darkness and chaos

A cathedral cave ceiling

Lonely for a thousand years

But for these delicate creatures

Tiny worms glowing, worshiping

- is this why God told David not to build a temple

#ramblings of a porcelain heart #original poetry #nature poetry #religious poetry #glowworms

[squeakowl]

Waitomo Glowworm Caves, New Zealand

In 1887, English surveyor Fred Mace and local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau decided to explore the Caves of Waitomo. They entered the cave system on a tiny raft where a stream descends into the underground, and with their candles, they carefully navigated the stream through the caves. In the darkness, they noticed starlike lights scattered across the formations above their heads.⁠ ⁠ Thousands of glowworms were hanging peacefully above their heads, forming a magnificent bioluminescent cosmos.⁠ ⁠ Elated with joy, the two men would return many times to explore further. On an independent trip, Tinorau found a land entrance, which is the same entrance that is used today by tourists from around the world.

#nature #stars #new zealand #waitomo #glowworms

[2bearbear]

New Zealand Travel Itinerary Day 11: Ruakuri Visitor Centre, Waitomo Glowworm Caves, Waitomo Homestead and drive to Devonport On day 11 of our travels in New Zealand, we visited yet another highlight of this trip – Waitomo Glowworm Caves. Although it was a... ( Open Link to Read More.. ) https://www.2bearbear.com/new-zealand-travel-itinerary-day-11-ruakuri-visitor-centre-waitomo-glowworm-caves-waitomo-homestead-and-drive-to-devonport/

#2bearbear #attractions #auckland #devonport #glowworms #mountvictoria #MountVictoriaDevonport #nature #naturelover #NewZealand #nz #parkingsignsinnewzealand #ruakuri #RuakuriVisitorCentre #sglife #Singapore #TakarungaMountVictoria #thingstodo #Travel #travelblog #travelblogger

[bonefall]

thank u for the glowworm post. i live in the uk and just realised me and my neighbours gardens were actually. super special cause we regularly see the females o7 we're in the right region too! im filing a report now :D

YES THAT'S VERY SPECIAL

I am a man of my word, I will now add glowworms to BB.

For anyone else who happens to see them (especially in the modeled regions), you can file a report on the UK Glowworm Survey and they will make sure to keep the exact location and info private, both for the safety of the bugs and to not bring people flocking to a private location

You can really help out conservation of this species if you file a report, no matter where you are! It helps them estimate the population and distribution.

#Glowworms #Insects

[lyf1utb1tdoli]

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#addisons #Trilliaceae #awe-compelling #Aruntas #morphological #Mahlon #ippi-appa #subdealer #prevogue #phytosaurian #antiputrid #glowworms #precontrives #telphermen #gumlah #plumemaker #Allotheria #homescreen #diptyca #Letto-slavonic

[layaart]

never pass up a chance to take product photos

glow in the dark glowworm stickers available here!

#glow worm #glowworms #stickers #nature art #online store #artist alley #no pics of it/the glowworms glowing bc.....my phone wouldn't pick that up very well #original

[cityfolkferal]

The #glowworms at #NaturalBridge at night. Great outing. Had a nice night! 😍😁 (at Natural Bridge National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjdJSVMLx7oB5fTEJ1dEd6uwz604BeLeLN8qUg0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#glowworms #naturalbridge