Microscopic worms called nematodes have been found to build towering structures in nature that can be up to 10 times their individual size. These tiny architects use their bodies to climb onto each other and create complex formations, with some reaching out as exploratory “arms” to sense the environment.
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of Konstanz discovered this behavior in German orchards where they found hundreds of the 1-millimeter-long worms building structures. The team then brought samples of nematodes called Caenorhabditis elegans into a lab to analyze their behavior.
The study reveals that these tiny creatures can assemble into a coordinated superorganism, acting and moving as a whole. When poked or prodded, the tower formation responds by changing direction towards the stimulus.
Researchers believe that this cooperative behavior may be an adaptation to help the worms hitch a ride on larger animals, such as insects, to find food sources further away from their current location. The structures themselves could also serve as a mode of transport, with some worms forming bridges across gaps within petri dishes.
The discovery raises questions about the evolutionary purpose of social behaviors in small animals and whether they communicate through certain signals or mechanisms. Further research is needed to determine whether this behavior is cooperative or competitive and how it might be applied to understand the perceptual world of these organisms.
This study highlights the complexity of animal communication and cooperation, and its findings could have implications for robotics and computer science.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/05/science/nematode-stacking-worms-living-towers