This surreal long-exposure photography of glowworms was captured by new-media artist Joseph Michael. The Auckland, New Zealand-based photographer took these pictures in 30 million-year-old limestone cave formations on North Island.
“The exposures varied on the cave and how close I could get. 5 mins for the close ups. 30 mins or 1hr for some of the wider ones,” Michael explains on Facebook. There “was a bit of experimentation involved. Getting the ISO / f stop mix right. The blue light in some of the pics is a soft LED which is powered from my car battery / inverter combo.”
Arachnocampa luminosa is a species of fungus gnat endemic to New Zealand. The larva hangs down snares of silk that are up to 40 cm (15.75 in) to catch their prey; the hungrier the larva, the brighter they glow.
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