There are several cave systems located near the town of Waipu, which is about two hours north of Auckland. Although most of the caves are on private land and are inaccessible to the public, there are two that are open to visitors. One of them is on private land, but the owners offer guided tours for a fee. The other is on public land managed by the Department of Conservation, and is free to enter without a guide. We chose to visit the ‘free to enter’ cave system, which is called Waipu Caves.
You can see Glowworm lights in the last image in the gallery of photos we took while investigating Waipu Caves. The “worm” is actually the larval stage of a fungus gnat fly. The adult fly looks a little like a mosquito, but we never saw one. Warning: Sciencey quote ahead …
“Glowworm light is made from a biochemical reaction called bioluminescence which takes place at the terminal end of the renal glands or malphigian tubules of the larval glowworm. Energy to make the light is sourced from an energy rich protein, ATP which is manufactured there. Glowworms produce ‘cold’ light, a pure light with almost no associated heat. The glowworm larva uses the light at its tail end as an irresistible lure to attract small flying insects lost in the darkness of the cave. Adult females can also produce a light at their tail which may help to attract a mate.”
