Shine Little Glow Worm - a photo on Flickriver

            Definitely not the prettiest of creatures - but this larvalform female from the firefly family Lampyridae has something that beautiful birds, fuzzy bunnies and cute kittens lack - bioluminescence. Light organs on the abdomen contain molecules of luciferin, when this reacts with molecular oxygen catalysed by the enzyme luciferinase, light energy is released as an eerie yellow/green glow. The glow is very bright - it was visible from several metres away.

This was a challenging capture - the image is a blend of shots taken with and without the light from my headtorch. Exposing for the bright glow left the rest of the image in complete darkness, but too much light from the headtorch washed out the glow and its reflection on the stone wall. The glow-worm was close to ground level, so the tripod legs were stretched out flat (as was I) with the macro lens just inches away from the glow-worm.

No glow-worms were harmed in the making of this photograph - although as a nocturnal animal, she soon became annoyed with the headtorch light and crawled away into a nice dark crack in the stone wall. This was my third night of photographing her, but after this she was not seen again - clearly she had had quite enough...or perhaps she found a mate...

Taken on: June 6, 2019

Tags:

macro

nature

animal

insect

firefly

Lampyris noctiluca

bioluminescence

luciferin

luciferinase

glow-worm

enzyme

chemiluminescence

NGC

NPC « less

Sets appears in: • Animals (no Snails) • Make Me Smile more » • Macro and Close-Ups « less

Groups appears in: • TMI: your ART & NATURE **NO PEOPLE OR MAN-MADE OBJECTS** P1♥C1 • Damn! I Wish I'd Taken That!!! (Invite Only) Post 1-Award2 . more » • ♥ Flowers or Insects - MACROS ONLY - P1*/A3***- sweeper on! • Best Of DAMN! I Wish I'd Taken That • VIVID & STRIKING - P1/A3 - Sweeper Active • Nature's Carousel - Closed! • Nature's Golden Carousel ~ Closed! • *Specialist Nature & Wildlife Photographers* (P1 - A2) • VIVID & STRIKING TOP - Admin. Invite - P1/A5 • Just a Macro or Closeup • Living Jewels of Nature • Amazing Nature True Nature And Nothing Else • InfiniteXposure L2 (P1, A5) • InfiniteXposure L3 (P1,A5) • Micro Visions Admin invite only! • L3 Tiny worlds (macro & closeups in nature) - P1/A4 - ladybug • ...Small in Nature-Comment, Fave, Upload only the Best! • DSLR Autofocus Level 4 • DSLR Autofocus Level 2 • DSLR Autofocus Level 3 • DSLR Autofocus Level 5 • DSLR Autofocus Level 6 • DSLR Autofocus Level 7 • DSLR Autofocus Hall of Fame • DSLR Autofocus Level 1 • Specialists' Choice Nature & Wildlife (P1 - A2) « less

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