MYRIADS OF GLOWWORMS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 71, 24 March 1926, Page 4

MYRIADS OF GLOWWORMS

NEAR AUCKLAND

fe;- SIMILAR TO THOSE AT fg WAITOMO.

|Vr'aiatarua, *' district in the Waitakena, near Nihotupu, ia agog trith interest ■ M;- the discovery o£ prolific colonies of jj|e*f-.-w6rnia in its artificial caves; and ike investigations made during the week•«d raise the question whether the species •^flow-worm seen in these caves.is the til that at Waitomo (states the land Star"). Though the existence (flow-wona at Waiatarua has been for months past,, it is only recently ttiat the residents have begun to realise M6 fifnuicanc* cf their appearance 'in meh. myriad nun bero. Experts, who Jfalve examined the glow-worms here, astgtt that they are of exactly the same Meciet as the Waitomo Caves glow-worms. |:j'. THREE HOURS' VIGIL. ,<On Sunday evening a representative of tkt "Star," in a three hours' vigil, enIjintd some very interesting artificial cavee - idjacent to Waiatarua, just off the main md, at the peak of the bill at Nihotupu. -Xbe cave* were from 20 to 40 feet in length, and were excavated by Mr. W. '•Aidson. Mr. Judson is a keen naturalist »tmd he claims that the glow-worms at '.Xiihotupu ars equally brilliant and present }m fine a spectacle as those at Wsitomo. once seen indications of gold-bear-V^j[ country at Nihotupu, near Waiatarua, e3(r. Judson had prospected there and ex',;tivaUd the caves. Ho was amazed one, igß^it, upon entering the caves, to find' tt&tin brilliantly lit tip by a myriad of ,jHow.worms. li^CteMr inspaction showed that the glow■•.■Wflirms were three or four inches long, -itaotigh many wew smaller. The reprefSntative *ho visited Nihotupu yesterday jlfte'nt three houre, from nine o'clock to Iftiidnight, in tlie caves, and observed a 'peculiar phenomenon. The glow-worms at •Sfaottipu responded to the same conditions MM thot* at Waitomo, and began ta dun liftbti it any noise was made in the "«ave«. Upon a flashlight being focussed IfSpOB tkera they dimmed at once, although *tna bright, scintillating glare of the phosiiMHoretcent light-was observed.in spite of B*ro- powerful rays of the torch. Besides itintmiil* their lights the glow-worms lraISftiately , contracted their bodies; and, '/■■mith a strange effect, caused the tiny r^Bglrt to slide along their bodies. P: SMALL COLONY CAPTURED. En« threids could be seen hanging down J*i'ih« tama wanner as the glow-worm* at !»Waitomo; and, -without difficulty, a hun;afcftl specimens or more were captured T»n4 brought into Auckland to-day to be .'Swerved by the university authorities. ■'itfttfortunately, very few were showing iirlheir lighta upon arrival.in the city, and ?!$t""w»» impoasible *to tell, until suitable -fceilditione wen reproduced, whether they "tad »urnv«d the effects of the journey. —ti.lt has b*en observed by esperts who ""*•♦• visited Waitomo that the glow-worms th«« will exist only above runnmg water, ■tttsched to a lime-like formation; and all the guide* at Waitomo stress this fact m •howing visitors the subterranean won--At Waiatarua the glowworms have affixed themselves to the ceiling and are also teen frequently near to the ground, with sufficient space to allow .their threads to hang and catch the small insect, life,on which they are said to feed. Waiatarjia has a very different formation from fWaitomo; and, although, limestone formation w evident it is only in small quantities compared with Waitomo. The place where the Nihotupu glowworms live and Ihri^ ehat the appearance of friable sand•tone mixed with earth. The glowworms ate quite different from the species that ie seen in the New Zealand bush; and toft Mr. Campbell and Mr. Judson claim that they are the Mm© as those at the ; famous caves. "'Recently specimens -were taken from jVaitomo, according to a Press report, and were placed in the hands of a Government investigator for examination as to their habits of life; 'and it is suggested that | similar specimens night be taken from Waiatarua to form a careful .comparison. iVtiiors to th« Nihotupu district''"have been iOUttpoken in their praise of the glow■Worins. - . ..As the locality is easily reached from ] Auckland, being only 17 miles from (jueen (street, it is much frequented by motorists; and one of those who made the drive dur- i ing the week-end wss a member of the Australian: fleet. He said that the sight had not its equal outside New Zealand, unless'it was in the Northern Hemisphere: and h« suggested that the discovery should arouse great entomological interest. .-,.. SOME PECULIARITIES. Among the peculiarities of the glowwprms if the fact that there is a slight alhne around them and that the 'little s , light goes up and down the body as if '^<*Z mislead any -attacking agent. , The: glowworms also possessed the power of contracting their bodies to Yiin in length. ; Mr. Campbell, interviewed, said the glow worms that could be seen at Waitomo arid Waiatarua were really the pupa stags' oitgoma insect. Strange enough, no one ' appeared ever to have seen the perfect insect. ..." Mrs. M. Kingsley, of Waiatarua, who fus been living at Nihotupu for eighteen months, it another witness to'the assertion that the species is the same as that, •s*. nat Waitomo. "When I visited WaiU*no ther* was, of course, no opportunity fit studying the glowworms very closely, as the guides prevented any familiarity with the insect treasures that have made the district famous," she observed to-day; "but if one can go by one's own eyesight .then all I can say is that even if the glowworinc of Waiatarua should be pronounced by scientists aa a different species, they produce exactly the same light and have •xactly the same filament-like threads."