This is pretty funny … someone came to my blog today to find out whether the poop of glow worms glows. The answer is no – that’s because glow worms don’t poop. The glow that they make is their form of excretion. But rather than just launching solid or liquid waste, it converts the leftover matter into light that’s used to attract its prey. The glow worms dangle silky threads from their spots in their home caves. Insects see this and thinks they’re seeing stars, and fly toward the light. They get caught in the threads. Then the glow worms eat them, absorb the nutrients, turn the excess matter into light and begin the cycle again. Really, that’s pretty fabulous. It takes stuff in, but leaves nothing but heat and light behind. That’s an incredible bit of evolution. And certainly, it has to be the envy of every mechanical engineer. If you’re interested in seeing glow worms, there are a number of places in the world to do so. Of course, I’m pretty partial to Waitomo, New Zealand. Here are a few related posts: Rappelling into the Dark 7 Hotels in New Zealand Rap, Raft & Rock
