World Database of Nematodes

In 2025, researchers in Konstanz studying rotting fruit in local orchards spotted a behavior never before documented in nature. Hundreds of worms were seen stretching upward together into writhing structures called “towers.” Scientists had previously observed these formations only in laboratory experiments.
The team later recreated the behavior in the lab and found that the towers could cling to fruit flies. The finding supports the long-standing theory that the worms use other animals to travel to new environments.

“We know surprisingly little about the natural history of nematodes, despite their abundance and despite C. elegans being one of the best-studied organisms in biology,” says senior author Dr. Serena Ding, who leads the Genes and Behavior Group at MPI-AB. “This study shows what we can learn when we move beyond the lab and observe them in their natural habitats together with the other organisms they interact with.”

Reference: “Differential Phoretic Vector Use Among Sympatric Caenorhabditis Nematodes and an Association With Invasive Nitidulid Beetles in Southwestern Germany” by Ryan Greenway, Loel Dalan, Christian Braendle, Marie-Anne Félix and Siyu Serena Ding, 4 May 2026, Ecology and Evolution.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.73510