This galaxy of little lights is created by thousands of living creatures. Any animal that lives in a cave has to cope with complete blackness, but in New Zealand some have turned this darkness to their advantage. A silken strand is lowered from the ceiling, alongside hundreds of others. Beautiful though these threads are, they have a sinister purpose. This is a cave glow worm. To trap its prey it goes fishing with a line of silk. The silk comes from glands in the glow worm's mouth and is loaded with droplets of mucus. Each glow worm produces dozens of these threads. Once its lines are set, the glow worm hangs from a mucus hammock and waits, like a patient angler. But the glow worm doesn't leave everything to chance.


这些闪烁的小光点是由数千只动物发出的。生活在洞穴里的所有动物都必须面对完全没有光线这个问题。但是在新西兰，一些动物把黑暗变成了优势。一条丝线从洞穴顶部垂下来，旁边还有数百条同样的线。它们虽然很漂亮，但却是别有用心的。这是一只洞穴萤火虫，它用丝线钓鱼的方法来捕获猎物。丝线来自萤火虫口中的腺体，上面粘满粘液滴。每只萤火虫都布下数十根这样的丝线。线布好之后，这些萤火虫就悬在粘液吊床上静静地等待，就像一位耐心的垂钓高手。但它们绝不是完全消极等待。