Interesting Pest Facts ~ Glowworms Use Urine To Make Webs

Interesting Pest Facts ~ Glowworms Use Urine To Make Webs

Glowworms are interesting creatures. These worms sit inside of a tube of mucous that is stuck to the ceilings of caves. While stuck to these cave ceilings, glowworms eject a sticky thread that looks like an opulent beaded necklace. These necklace-like protrusions are meant to trap insect prey, and after much research, experts believe that glowworms use urine as an important ingredient in their special webs.

The urea secreted by the glowworms cause moisture levels to increase which, in turn, results in water droplets forming on the glowworms secreted web. These water droplets are sticky, and they work very well at trapping bugs that approach the bright blue lights that are emitted from the glowworms body. For years the answer to the question of what glowworms use to build their webs has evaded researchers that were too taken with the glowworms bodily light show. Glowworms are not actual worms, rather they are a larval form of a fungus gnat, so it is to its credit that it looks beautiful on the outside.

Are there any other animals in the animal kingdom that are capable of attracting bugs via hypnotic light shows?