Marvel at the beauty of New Zealand's sparkling caves [video]

A few days ago we posted here in Mega Curious a story listing places that seem to have come out of fairy tales, and the first place we mentioned was Glowworm Cave, which is in New Zealand. And isn't that - coincidentally - the folks at the Smithsonian.com portal posted a story with an amazing video showing what this beautiful cave looks like inside? Watch below:

See how amazing? According to Smithsonian.com's Erin Blakemore, what look like sparkling little stars on the ceiling of the cave are actually insect larvae - more precisely, mosquito nets. The adult animals lay their eggs on the damp surfaces of caves, and after the larvae hatch, they weave nests made of silk and mucus that hang from the ceiling.

But do not think that these mosquito babies emit the shimmering glow simply to brighten the eyes of visitors who venture into the caves! In fact, bioluminescence serves to attract other insects - such as moths and ephemerides - to the silk tentacles and then feed on them. Therefore, despite giving the caves an almost supernatural beauty, there is a sinister background to their activity.

Do you know any other place on earth that looks like Glowworm Cave? Comment on the Mega Curious Forum