Nematodes, the most abundant animals on Earth, have a unique survival strategy when faced with tough conditions. They form towering structures, a behavior that scientists have now observed in the wild for the first time.
For years, these worm towers were considered more of a myth than a reality. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz in Germany have now provided direct evidence that this behavior occurs naturally.
Researchers recorded video footage of worms towering in fallen apples and pears from local orchards. This discovery confirms that these structures are not just a lab phenomenon but a natural means of collective transport.
The team found that these towers are made of a single species of nematode, all in the tough larval stage known as a "dauer." The towers are coordinated structures, acting as a superorganism in motion.
The towers can respond to touch, detach from surfaces, and attach to insects, hitchhiking to new environments. Laboratory experiments showed that adult and larval stages of C. elegans also exhibit this behavior.
This research opens new avenues for understanding how and why animals move together. The study highlights the potential of using C. elegans as a model to study the ecology and evolution of collective dispersal.