In 1924, it was placed within a new genus of its own, Arachnocampa, because the wing venation of the adults and the behaviour of the larvae differed significantly from other Bolitophila fly species.

The species was first formally described in 1891 with the species name Bolitiphila luminosa and was assigned to the family Mycetophilidae. At first it was thought to be related to the European glowworm beetle ( Lampyris noctiluca) but, in 1886, a Christchurch teacher showed it was a larva of a gnat, not a beetle. The first written record of the species dates from 1871 when it was collected from a gold mine in New Zealand's Thames region. Its Māori name is titiwai, meaning 'projected over water'. The species is known to dwell in caves and on sheltered banks in native bush where humidity is high. The larval stage and the imago produce a blue-green bioluminescence. The astronomers will now study more of these objects to see if galaxies are responsible for making all blobs glow.Arachnocampa luminosa (Skuse, 1891), commonly known as New Zealand glowworm or simply glowworm, is a species of fungus gnat endemic to New Zealand.

By carefully studying the properties of the light given off by the blob shown in this photo, astronomers know that this one glows because it contains bright galaxies. Now, using a powerful telescope called the Very Large Telescope, which is based in a country in South America called Chile, astronomers are a step closer to solving the mystery. Another idea is that they are glowing because there are bright galaxies inside the blobs. One idea is that they glow when gas heats up as it is pulled in by a blob’s powerful gravity.

But what is causing the blobs to glow is a mystery to astronomers. They are also some of the biggest objects in the Universe – these gigantic clouds of gas can be up to a few times bigger than the size of our galaxy, the Milky Way! Like a swarm of glow-worm insects, these blobs shine brightly. These blobs are incredibly rare and very far away in the Universe.

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