THE LUSH EXTRATERRESTRIAL glowing rainforest

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Bioluminescence in the Peruvian Amazon: Like the Avatar Movie, but in Real Life

If you’re familiar with the 2009 science fiction film, Avatar, you may have enjoyed the lush extraterrestrial glowing rainforest: bioluminescence in the Peruvian Amazon. But the glowing rainforest that I experienced was real, and it occurred in Tambopata this past March.

Below, I describe the unbelievable, glowing creatures of the Amazon. To check out more otherworldly jungle animals — and even help with scientific discovery

Join in our Wired Amazon project!

I should start off by mentioning that I’m an entomologist, and part of my job involves searching for Neotropical insects and investigating their bizarre behaviors. This leads us to our first bioluminescent critter:

#1: Predatory Glow Worms

Glow in the dark critter

These are the larvae of click beetles, which are in the family Elateridae. While over 10,000 species of click beetles are known worldwide, only a couple hundred species display bioluminescence. The larva pictured above likely belongs to the genus Pyrearinus, but we don’t know the species yet. In any case, we think they utilize their bioluminescence, which only occurs in glands near their heads, to attract insect prey. With their natural light trap, they snag unsuspecting victims with their mandibles and pull them into the abyss of their tunnel.

#2 Flashing Fireflies

Flashing Firefly

 View of an adult firefly. Bioluminescence is emitted in flashes from the lower abdomen.

 

Next up on the list, we have the more commonly known fireflies, which are beetles in the family Lampyridae. The adults light up the sky near the river each night in order to attract mates. Males and females flash bioluminescent signals from special cells in their abdomens at just the right intervals and frequencies to catch the attention of the opposite sex of the same species.

#3 The Enigmatic Railroad Worm

The third bioluminescent organism was a big surprise. Crawling in the leaf litter was a railroad worm in the family Phengodidae. This is a less well-known family of beetles whose members display bioluminescence and they also have another bizarre characteristic in which the female beetles are “larviform”, meaning they are fully developed yet still appear much like larvae. Check out the video of our railroad worm showing off its glow in Tambopata:

 

#4 Glowing Ground

And last but not least, as we were taking pictures of the railroad worm we noticed something else strange. After we killed our headlamps, the ground around us appeared to start lighting up.

While we thought we must certainly be going crazy with all this bioluminescence on the brain, our eyes adjusted and the leaves were indeed glowing. Or more specifically, the fungi growing on the decaying leaf litter were glowing.

I still have no idea why this particular fungus was emitting light. I’m aware that some fungi are bioluminescent to attract insects at night to move spores around, but something tells me this is different. The glowing is incredibly faint and it’s not the fungal spores that are glowing, but rather the mycelium. What purpose would this serve? I’ve heard an explanation that the fungus sequesters a large amount of phosphorous and this is what causes the glow, but I’m still searching for a concrete explanation and species identification for this fungus.

So there you have it! Several species of glowing insects and glowing fungi condensed in one area. It really felt like we were in the rainforest of the Avatar movie, only even better because it was real life! We found all of these incredible glowing organisms near the Refugio Amazonas jungle lodge in Tambopata, Peru, so if you’re curious about discovering some bioluminescence of your own, come here and check it out!

To discover these fascinating creatures, along with dozens of other incredible species, book your dream trip to the Amazon today!

 

By Aaron Pomerantz, Entomologist

Follow Aaron on Twitter @AaronPomerantz

  • What our guest say

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This trip was the highlight of our travels through peru. The lodge was absolutely 5 stars for everything. The room, food, people. We had a private guide, Allen, who grew up locally and really had deep knowledge of the land, the history, and the variety of plant and animal species in the jungle. His knowledge and passion were invaluable to our experience. There are a variety of tour companies and lodges you can book to visit the Amazon, however, I would only recommend Rainforest Expeditions as they are truly connected to the community and offer high quality first class amazon experience! Read all

We had a truly wonderful stay with Rainforest Expeditions. Everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming, and our guide was fantastic — very knowledgeable and passionate about the rainforest. We saw many animals, even from the boat, which made the experience unforgettable. Read all

I just spent 3 days here with my family. The research center surpassed all our expectations. I want to give a special shout out to Carlos who took such good care of us. He went above and beyond to make sure we werr comfortable. And he was always smiling. He made us feel so welcome. We had Erik as our guide who is so knowledgeable and experienced. We learned so much, saw so much wildlife. It really was a dream vacation. Thank you!! Read all

Chose this place to stay at the Amazon, as I heard it benefits the local indigenous community. Life changing experience. Oscar was an excellent guide! We saw so many wildlife! No 4th wall made it such an immersive jungle experience. Since they are eco friendly, there is no AC. It can get pretty hot depending on the season. So better to follow their guidance for clothing choices Read all

If you want to experience the Amazon in all its glory This is the place to come to Staff and guides were excellent Food was just incredible The forest walks were really interesting and informative Read all

If you are a birder, ask for Juan Carlos Yatto. He recognizes an astounding number of bird calls and can duplicate many of them. This place is magical, all I could have imagined. All the staff and scientists are incredible. The experience of a lifetime. Read all

This was the most amazing experience Very well organised The ground staff were so well organised The guides were excellent ( I’m looking at you Carlos!) Food was tasty and very varied Amazed that the chefs managed to get such variety in the middle of the Amazon Do not hesitate Book immediately you will not be disappointed. Highly recommended Read all

I can not say enough good things about my time at the Tambopata Research Center. Between the guides, the boat drivers, the chefs, the staff, the bartenders, the researchers, etc. Everyone was absolutely wonderful! If you are interested in viewing wildlife in the Amazon, this is the place for you! A special thank you to the maître d' Carlos who was so incredibly kind and hospitable and our guide Dino who was like a real life Indiana Jones. I can't wait to come back! Read all

An unforgettable, fully immersive jungle experience. Amazing how Tambopata Lodge delivers luxury touches in such a remote and rugged location. The food is fantastic, the staff incredible, and the wildlife sightings non-stop. The personalised itinerary and one-on-one guiding made the trip truly special—huge thanks to our guide Johan for sharing his passion and knowledge. The Macaw Project is inspiring, and it’s clear the lodge fully supports this important conservation work. Manager Brian was always kind, helpful. Well-done all involved. Read all

The most important fact we are grateful for is the true sense of understanding of the ecology of the Amazon the staff at Rainforest Expeditions (RFE) have shown us. RFE stands out for its stand against the pure, profit-motive initiatives many other tour operators do. We are very grateful to have had Carlos as our guide. Carlos is deeply dedicated, and is able to explain the nuances of the flora and fauna. The world today needs to act as one against the impact of climate change. RFE is one, bright shining light in this regard. Read all

We had a fabulous trip! The people were amazing, kind and very professional. The food was exceptionally good! The facilities are beautiful and well kept. We just loved our second time with Rainforest Expeditions and can't wait to go again!! Read all

Fantastic to be deep in the forest surrounded by incredible wildlife with our amazing guide Juan Carlos Yatto, who really knew his stuff! Also his photography skills meant that we could share our experience even better through his telescope using our phone cameras! We learned so much!! He went to extra lengths to find butterflies and moths for us along with so many different birds and monkeys. This was a travel highlight for us as experienced wildlife travellers. We loved our spacious room with no windows and open to more wildlife visitors but after 5 nights the bed could have been a little more comfortable. Luckily we had a second bed to use. Otherwise it was fantastic with hot water showers and fresh drinking water all the time. We were amazed at the variety of food on offer for breakfast, lunch and dinner and couldn’t believe they could have such a wonderful food offering in such a remote location. Even the wine and cocktails were great. I highly recommend spending the extra money and time getting to this location. We stayed at another lodge later which was closer to Puerto Maldonado and there was far less wildlife. Read all

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