University of Queensland researchers are providing an insurance policy to underpin the survival of a Gold Coast glow worm colony and a surrounding multi-million dollar eco-tourism industry.
The project aims to increase knowledge to ensure sustainability of glow worms, which are actually the larvae of a primitive form of fly found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
Glow worms light up the world from the rear, using a unique display of bioluminescence from their tails to attract their prey to a snare of silk and mucus where they are trapped.
It is this glow-in-the-dark quality that attracts an estimated 110,000 eco-tourists a year to Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park on the Gold Coast, for night viewing of the species in the wild, or to Australia's first captive colony, also on the Gold Coast.
The Natural Bridge colony is so popular, visits are now regulated with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) permits. QPWS were concerned that visitor levels could be affecting the colony but did not have any biological information about Australian glow worms, and no biological explanation of why or how numbers should fluctuate.
UQ lecturer in Entomology Dr David Merritt and PhD student Claire Baker said a distinct benefit of the current project was that biological information helped them to manage colonies in a sustainable way and lock in operators' profits.
"In the short term we need to confirm that visitors are not affecting the colony, and in the long term want to guard against risk factors such as environmental degradation, vandalism, disease and climatic extremes.
"Our surveys indicate that glow worms are found more widely in Australia than current records show. It's likely there are several undescribed species, and we need to know more about their habitats, and collect genetic information linking the relatedness of species to their distribution.
"Information on the insect's distribution, environmental requirements and population changes in relation to climate will be useful for managing and using the species."
Dr Merritt and Ms Baker have developed techniques for keeping captive glow worms to allow visitors to get a close-up look at larvae and their snares.
Their survey of Australia's glow worms will allow scientists to assess tourism industries in different regions and may reveal significant new colonies. They have also found a spectacular and possibly rare glow worm in a cave in the Australian Alps.
Work on glow worms through 1999 was sponsored by the CRC for Sustainable Tourism, Australian Geographic, QPWS, the glow worm tour operator Aries Tours Pty Ltd, and the developer of the captive glow worm colony, Errol Barnes of Lyrebird Ridge Cafe and Gallery.
Media: Further information, Dr David Merritt or Ms Claire Baker, telephone 07 3365 3478, email: dmerritt@ento.uq.edu.au or Jan King at UQ Communications 0413 601 248 or email: communications@mailbox.uq.edu.au.
