Strange creatures glow themselves to catch prey

Newly discovered glowing strange animals lurk in the tropical rainforest soil in Peru.

The Live Science site reported recently that a strange, glowing animal was discovered in Peru's rainforest soil. The researchers say the bacterium is the larval stage of an unknown species of beetle, capable of using phosphorescent light to catch flies and ants as food.

The first to discover this strange animal is photographer Jeff Cremer. While working in a hut in the Peruvian rainforest, he suddenly saw small patches of light on the ground, and when he took a closer look, he realized that these were small insects (1.2cm long) playing. Light out green in the night.

Strange animals glow in the tropical rainforest in Peru.(Live Science photo)

After discovering this species, Jeff brought them to the entomologists working in the forest. Experts say this is a new species and is likely to be the larvae form of a new wood beetle species of the Elateridae family, this larvae often eat insect sticks and termites but adult beetles eat only flowers or nectar.

There are more than 10 thousand types of wood beetles in the world, including more than 200 types that are capable of glowing. Therefore, this strange animal may be one of the relatives of the Brazilian Beetle beetle and belongs to the group of bugs with the scientific name Pyrophorini.

This strange animal is a predator that uses light to lure insects and termites.(Live Science photo)

Light-able animals often use their blue light to lure prey or warn other predators about their toxins, but sometimes this blue light is also used with Another purpose is the sign of the firefly's mates. For the larvae of this wood beetle, green light works to attract prey to make food for their open mouth.

However, the team has not yet been able to conclude that this is a new species or a branch of a known bug. Therefore, researchers are contacting experts in this field for more specific information.

Reference: Live Science