The strawberry sap beetle (Stelidota geminata), one of two invasive beetle species found to serve as vectors for the newly described nematode species Caenorhabditis apta. Credit: Gustavo Alarcon-Nieto / Genes and Behavior Group

In 2025, Konstanz scientists looked very closely at rotting fruit in local orchards, and observed what no one had before—worms, hundreds of them, twisting skyward into self-assembled living structures known as "towers." It was the first time anybody had seen this mysterious behavior outside of the laboratory.

Back in the lab, the team showed how these towers could attach to fruit flies, supporting a long-standing idea: towering worms may be trying to hitchhike on animals to reach new habitats.…