A microscopic parasitic worm living in the soil has figured out how to weaponize static electricity against its insect prey.
The worm, Steinernema carpocapsae, lives in a world too small for sight, sound, or strategy. It has one job: find a host or die trying. Researchers at the University of Bristol recently discovered how it pulls that off.
When a nearby insect passes overhead, the worm springs into the air and lets static charge guide it, curving its jump mid-flight until it collides with its target.
Slow-Mo Video shows a Worm Using Static to grab a Fly
The bizarre and fascinating technique was caught in slow-mo evidence. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists filmed the worm launching itself toward fruit flies carrying an electrical charge.
Instead of missing wildly, it bent through the air and made perfect contact every time. Out of nineteen charged insects, nineteen were hit. When the flies carried no charge, only one worm connected.
“The electric field acts like a hidden guide,” said study co-author Andy Goral in an interview with StudyFinds. “It gives the worm accuracy it shouldn’t have.”
Insects constantly build up static electricity while flying. Wings brush the air, that friction builds charge, and their tiny bodies become positively charged—sometimes up to a thousand volts. The worms resting below are negatively charged by contact with the ground. The instant they leap, physics steps in. Opposite charges attract, pulling them together through an invisible force. Nature’s magic trick!
Even a light breeze works in the worm’s favor. It lifts them higher, gives them more hang time, and lets electricity do its work. What should be a blind gamble turns into a reliable strike.
Farmers already use S. carpocapsae as a natural pesticide. The worm infects pests from the inside out, saving crops without chemicals. But knowing how it actually hunts changes the picture. It’s strange to think about how much is happening in dirt. A whole electric hunt is playing out under our feet while we go about our day.
It moves once and trusts the pull of the world to finish the job.
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