The Luminous Organ of the New Zealand Glow‐worm

Wheeler, W. M.; Williams, F.X.

doi:10.1155/1915/20893

Cited by 33 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Overall, my observations support the suggestion by Broadley and Stringer (2001) that bioluminescence has no function in the pupal and adult stages of A. luminosa: it is, instead, carried over from the larval stage simply because the Malpighian tubules of Diptera are not affected by metamorphosis (Wheeler & Williams 1915;Ganguly 1960;Green 1979;Locke 1985).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…The carnivorous larva occupies a mucous web suspended by threads from the substrate. Numerous fishing lines with sticky droplets hang from the web and form a snare for insects attracted to the light produced from the swollen distal tips of Malpighian tubules in the abdomen (Wheeler & Williams 1915;Green 1979). The bioluminescence has a maximum wavelength of 487 nm (Shimomura et al 1966) which attracts mostly Diptera (Broadley & Stringer 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Notes on pupal behaviour, eclosion, mate attraction, copulation and predation of the New Zealand glowwormArachnocampa luminosa(Skuse) (Diptera: Keroplatidae), at Waitomo

Broadley¹

2012

New Zealand Entomologist

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The behaviour of pupae and adults of the New Zealand glowworm Arachnocampa luminosa was observed in Reserve Cave and in the cave entrance at Waitomo, New Zealand, from remote video recordings made with infra-red light. One female pupa observed in the cave was videotaped for 111 h before the adult emerged and copulated with a male. This female took 13 h 23 min to eclose, during which she glowed intermittently on 17 occasions. The male alighted upon the emerging female 13 h and 8 min after eclosion commenced and 3 min 33 s after she last glowed. Copulation commenced 12 h 55 min later and continued for 12 h 36 min. Two minutes after the pair separated, both adults were caught and eaten by a predatory harvestman (Megalopsalis tumida). Most of the eclosion was recorded for a second female pupa observed, on a rock face in the bush-clad entrance to Reserve Cave after 97 h of videotaping. Prior to eclosion this pupa made flicking movements when small crawling invertebrates contacted it during the daytime; this is the first time this behaviour has been described for A. luminosa. A male pupa in the cave was videotaped for 94 h until the adult emerged. It glowed dimly for 45 min during eclosion and the adult flew off 42 h 39 min after eclosion commenced.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Notes on pupal behaviour, eclosion, mate attraction, copulation and predation of the New Zealand glowwormArachnocampa luminosa(Skuse) (Diptera: Keroplatidae), at Waitomo

Broadley¹

2012

New Zealand Entomologist

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“…Both groups use bioluminescence to attract flying insects, which are ensnared in sticky silk and mucus traps constructed by the relatively immobile larvae (Fulton, 1941;Meyer-Rochow,segments of the four Malpighian tubules (Wheeler and Williams, 1915).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roles of biogenic amines in regulating bioluminescence in the Australian glowworm Arachnocampa flava

Rigby

Merritt

2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY The glowworm Arachnocampa flava is a carnivorous fly larva (Diptera) that uses light to attract prey into its web. The light organ is derived from cells of the Malpighian tubules, representing a bioluminescence system that is unique to the genus. Bioluminescence is modulated through the night although light levels change quite slowly compared with the flashing of the better-known fireflies (Coleoptera). The existing model for the neural regulation of bioluminescence in Arachnocampa, based on use of anaesthetics and ligations, is that bioluminescence is actively repressed during the non-glowing phase and the repression is partially released during the bioluminescence phase. The effect of the anaesthetic, carbon dioxide, on the isolated light organ from the present study indicates that the repression is at least partially mediated at the light organ itself rather than less directly through the central nervous system. Blocking of neural signals from the central nervous system through ligation leads to uncontrolled release of bioluminescence but light is emitted at relatively low levels compared with under anaesthesia. Candidate biogenic amines were introduced by several methods: feeding prey items injected with test solution, injecting the whole larva, injecting a ligated section containing the light organ or bathing the isolated light organ in test solution. Using these methods, dopamine, serotonin and tyramine do not affect bioluminescence output. Exposure to elevated levels of octopamine via feeding, injection or bathing of the isolated light organ indicates that it is involved in the regulation of repression. Administration of the octopamine antagonists phentolamine or mianserin results in very high bioluminescence output levels, similar to the effect of anaesthetics, but only mianserin acts directly on the light organ.

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“…Eggs and adults are not luminous (Haneda, 1957). The larval luminescence of Keroplatus species is due to fat body cells around the gut (Kato, 1953a, b;Baccetti et al, 1987), which differs from the luminescence of Arachnocampa species, wherein the luminous organs are located at the Malpighian tubules (Wheeler and Williams, 1915). In O. fultoni, the luminescence is due to "binucleategiant-black" secretory cells (Fulton, 1941;Bassot, 1978).…”

Section: Luminous True Flies (Insecta: Diptera)mentioning

confidence: 99%