Today's exploration to Waitomo Glowworm (45m) + Ruakuri (2h) cave. About 3 hours drive from Auckland south. . . The name "Waitomo" comes from the Māori words wai, water and tomo, hole or shaft." . . . "A glowworm is the larvae stage in the lifecycle of a two-winged insect. It grows as long as a matchstick and looks a bit like a maggot. The one we have in New Zealand is arachnocampa luminosa. 'Arachno' means spider-like, which refers to the way glowworms catch flying insects like spiders do. 'Campa' means larva and 'luminosa' means light-producing." . . "A glowworm uses its glow to attract food and to burn off its waste. It's tail glows because of bioluminescence, which is a reaction between the chemicals given off by the glowworm and the oxygen in the air. This chemical reaction produces light, which the glowworm can control by reducing the oxygen to the light organ. Insects fly towards the light and get stuck in the sticky lines that the glowworm hangs down to catch food. Glowworms al...