A unique species of Glow Worms call Pickett State Park’s Hazard Cave home, and you can see them in action.
The glow worms have been present in Pickett State Park for over 50 years, according to Park Ranger Owen Grant. The worms are fungus gnat larvae, and a chemical reaction causes the blue glow in their bodies. Grant said the species is understudied and needs protection.
“You never know what you can find out through future study,” Grant said. “And it’s always exciting to find something that’s a little bit of a mystery. So its important to protect them because of their uniqueness.”
Grant said the moist, dark environment in Hazard Cave is suitable for a glow worm habitat. The worms emerge in late April and stay aglow through June.
Glow worm tours at Pickett CCC can be booked online at the park website.
“When we offer these glow worm hikes, we’re not just taking people down there saying, ‘Hey, look! That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?'” Grant said. “We’re teaching them about how it’s kind of a unique species, with only one other species in the world like it.”
Grant said the glow worm’s blue light mimics the stars.
“That acts as kind of a trap for flying insects,” Grant said. The flying insects will find themselves stuck in what we refer to as the webs that the glow worms weave. And once they get stuck in that web, it makes them viable prey for the glow worms to then predate on.”
