US EditionFirst evidence of ‘living towers’ made of worms discovered in nature
- A team of scientists from the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute studied nematode worms forming tower-like structures on decaying apples and pears near Konstanz, Germany during late summer and autumn 2024.
- They investigated this because previous lab studies suggested nematodes build towers to disperse by hitching rides on insects, but natural occurrences had not been documented.
- Using digital microscopes, the team recorded towers of Caenorhabditis elegans worms up to 10 mm high clustering around structures like bristles on fruit, showing collective and responsive behavior.
- Serena Ding, the senior author, expressed immense excitement upon witnessing the natural worm towers for the first time, emphasizing that these formations function as coordinated superorganisms rather than simple clusters of worms.
- This discovery confirms nematode towers function as a natural dispersal strategy and opens new avenues to study collective animal behavior across species.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Living worm towers seen in nature for the first time
Nematode worm tower imaged in the laboratory. Credit: Daniela Perez When food runs out and competition heats up, nematodes assemble into living towers. They writhe and twist towards the sky with the goal of latching on to a passing animal to hitch a ride to more comfortable digs. Scientists had hypothesised this for decades, but no one had seen these aggregations form outside of the laboratory. Now, researchers in Germany have recorded the first…
Thousands of tiny worms form eerie tentacle-like structure to find food
Recently, scientists observed a living tower of worms in nature for the first time. The footage shows an eerie white structure moving like a tentacle — this is actually thousands of nematodes working together to search for food. Nematodes, or roundworms, are microscopic organisms found virtually everywhere, from soil and water to the bodies of plants and animals. — Read the rest The post Thousands of tiny worms form eerie tentacle-like structure…
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der Standard DEThe worms form a swarming superorganism that perceives stimuli – and can be chauffeured in this way in case of food shortages of insect flight taxis
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