Glowworm

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 colour from green, yellow, to orange. The families are closely related, and are all members of the 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.{{cite book|author=Yuichi Oba|editor =Klaus H. Hoffmann|title = Insect Molecular Biology and Ecology|chapter =Insect Bioluminescence in the Post-Molecular Biology Era|publisher =CRC Press|year =2014|page=94|isbn =9781482231892|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=HoMqBgAAQBAJ}}

• Family Elateridae – The click beetles. Of the estimated 10,000 species classified under this family, around 200 species from tropical regions of the Americas and some Melanesian islands are bioluminescent. All of them are members of the subfamily Pyrophorinae, except for one species, Campyloxenus pyrothorax, which belongs to subfamily Campyloxeninae, and Balgus schnusei, in Thylacosterninae.Costa, C. (1984) Note on the bioluminescence of Balgus schnusei (Heller, 1914) (Trixagidae, Coleoptera). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 28: 397–398.
• Family Lampyridae – True fireflies. Contains around 2,000 species found throughout the world. Some "glow worms" are in this family.{{cite web |url=http://animals.net/glow-worm/ |title=Glow Worm - Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and Interesting Facts |website=animals.net |date= 25 January 2017|access-date=19 July 2018}}
• Family Phengodidae – Usually known as glowworm beetles. Contains around 230 species endemic to the New World. This family also includes railroad worms, which are unique among all terrestrial bioluminescent organisms in producing red light.{{cite web |url= http://photobiology.info/Viviani.html |title= Terrestrial Bio luminescence: Biological and Biochemical Diversity |author= Vadim Viviani |publisher= Photobiological Sciences Online |access-date= 11 November 2016}}
• Family Rhagophthalmidae – Contains around 30 species found in Asia. The validity of this family has not been fully resolved. Rhagophthalmidae was formerly considered to be a subfamily under Phengodidae before being treated as a distinct family. Some authors{{who|date=November 2021}} now believe that it should be classified under Lampyridae.

{{Gallery

|File:Glowworm (4213020277).jpg|Phengodidae: Larva or larviform female of the western banded glowworm (Zarhipis integripennis)

|File:Firefly Nevit 02670 cr.jpg|Lampyridae: Female common glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca) from Assos, Turkey

|File:Photinus pyralis Firefly 3.jpg|Lampyridae: Male common eastern firefly (Photinus pyralis) from Evansville, United States

|File:Pyrophorus noctilucus click beetle.jpg|Elateridae: Male headlight click beetle (Pyrophorus noctilucus) from Jamaica

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Three genera of fungus gnats are bioluminescent, and known as "glowworms" in their larval stage. They produce a blue-green light. 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.{{cite journal |first1=Vadim R. |last1=Viviani |first2=J. Woodland |last2=Hastings |first3=Thérèse |last3=Wilson |year=2002 |title=Two bioluminescent diptera: the North American Orfelia fultoni and the Australian Arachnocampa flava. Similar niche, different bioluminescence systems |journal=Photochemistry and Photobiology |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=22–27 |doi=10.1562/0031-8655(2002)075<0022:TBDTNA>2.0.CO;2 |pmid=11837324|s2cid=198153893 }}{{cite journal |first1=Lisa M. |last1=Rigby |first2=David J. |last2=Merritt |year=2011 |title=Roles of biogenic amines in regulating bioluminescence in the Australian glowworm Arachnocampa flava |journal= Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=214 |issue=19 |pages=3286–3293 |doi=10.1242/jeb.060509 |pmid=21900476 |doi-access=free}}

• Genus Arachnocampa – around five species found only in New Zealand and Australia. The best-known member of the genus is the New Zealand glowworm, Arachnocampa luminosa. The larvae are predatory and use their lights to lure prey into their webs.{{cite journal |last=Meyer-Rochow |first=Victor Benno |title=Glowworms: a review of "Arachnocampa" spp and kin |journal=Luminescence |date=2007 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=251–265 |doi=10.1002/bio.955 |pmid=17285566}}
• Genus Orfelia – sometimes known as "dismalites". Contains a single species, Orfelia fultoni, found only in North America. Like Arachnocampa spp., their larvae may use their lights to attract prey like springtails and other small insects, but their main food is fungal spores.{{cite journal |last1=Sivinski |first1=J. M. |title=Phototropism, bioluminescence, and the Diptera |journal=Florida Entomologist |date=1998 |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=282–292 |url=http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/74832 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412230533/http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/74832 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 12, 2016 |doi=10.2307/3495919 |jstor=3495919 |doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }}
• Genus Keroplatus – found in Eurasia. Unlike Arachnocampa and Orfelia, the larvae of Keroplatus feed only on fungal spores.{{cite journal |last1=Osawa |first1=K. |last2=Sasaki |first2=T. |last3=Meyer-Rochow |first3=Victor Benno |title=New observations on the biology of Keroplatus nipponicus Okada 1938 (Diptera; Mycetophiloidea; Keroplatidae), a bioluminescent fungivorous insect |journal=Entomologie Heute |date=2014 |volume=26 |pages=139–149}} Their bioluminescence is believed to have no function and is vestigial.

{{Gallery

|File:Arachnocampa luminosa larvae.jpg |Two New Zealand glowworms (Arachnocampa luminosa) from the Waitomo Caves of New Zealand

|File:Foxfire at Anna Ruby Fall, Chattahoochee National Forest (14516028661).jpg |Orfelia fultoni among moss in Anna Ruby Falls, Georgia

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• Larviform

{{Reflist|40em}}

{{wikiquote|Glowworms}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111211084223/http://springbrook.info/glow_worms/about_worms.htm Springbrook Glow Worms Research Centre.] All about glow worms [Arachnocampa flava] in the Gold Coast hinterland, Queensland Australia.
• [http://www.glowwormcavetamborinemountain.com.au/about.html All About Glow Worm in Tamborine, Gold Coast ] Descriptive information on Glow Worm Life Cycle and Where are found in Australia.
• [http://www.glowworms.org.uk/ The UK Glow Worm Survey] has county-by-county lists of glowworm sites in the UK.

Category:Fly biology

Category:Beetles by adaptation

Category:Bioluminescent insects

Category:Insect common names