menu Home chevron_right
PETS & ANIMALS

True Facts: Electric Nematodes and Flying Spiders

Ze Frank | April 4, 2026



Want to help restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code ZEFRANK11 will get the first month for free at https://planetwild.com/r/zefrank/join/11

Check out their project transforming power lines into insect highways here: https://planetwild.com/r/zefrank/m15/11

merch: https://ze-true-store.myshopify.com/
patreon: https://www.patreon.com/truefacts/posts
classical music: https://soundcloud.com/querflote/5-au
sponsor music: https://incompetech.com/

Credits:
Dr. Victor Ortega-Jimenez, UC Berkeley
Dr. Sam England, Museum für Naturkunde
Dr. Daniel Robert, University of Bristol
Dr. David Hu, Georgia Tech
Dr. Avery Russell, Missouri State University
Dr. Moonsung Cho, Technische Universitat Berlin
Dr. James Lightfoot, Max Planck Institute

Citations:

Amador GJ et al. Honey bee hairs and pollenkitt are essential for pollen capture and removal. Bioinspir Biomim. 2017 Mar 23;12(2):026015. doi: 10.1088/1748-3190/aa5c6e.

Chiba T et al. Caenorhabditis elegans transfers across a gap under an electric field as dispersal behavior. Curr Biol. 2023 Jul 10;33(13):2668-2677.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.042.

Cho M. Aerodynamics and the role of the earth’s electric field in the spiders’ ballooning flight. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2021 Mar;207(2):219-236. doi: 10.1007/s00359-021-01474-6.

Cho M, et al. An observational study of ballooning in large spiders: Nanoscale multifibers enable large spiders’ soaring flight. PLoS Biol. 2018 Jun 14;16(6):e2004405. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2004405.

Clarke D et al. The bee, the flower, and the electric field: electric ecology and aerial electroreception. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2017 Sep;203(9):737-748. doi: 10.1007/s00359-017-1176-6.

England, SJ & D. Robert, Prey can detect predators via electroreception in air, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (23) e2322674121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322674121 (2024).

England SJ et al. Static electricity passively attracts ticks onto hosts. Curr Biol. 2023 Jul 24;33(14):3041-3047.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.021.

Garcia-Robledo, C et al. (2025). Electric transportation and electroreception in hummingbird flower mites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122. e2419214122. 10.1073/pnas.2419214122.

Handoo ZA et al. Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Pratylenchus dakotaensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Pratylenchidae), a New Root-Lesion Nematode Species on Soybean in North Dakota, USA. Plants (Basel). 2021 Jan 17;10(1):168. doi: 10.3390/plants10010168.

Kumar S et al. Reversible kink instability drives ultrafast jumping in nematodes and soft robots. Sci Robot. 2025 Apr 23;10(101):eadq3121. doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.adq3121.

Lightfoot JW et al. Assaying Predatory Feeding Behaviors in Pristionchus and Other Nematodes. J Vis Exp. 2016 Sep 4;(115):54404. doi: 10.3791/54404.

Matherne, M et al. (2021). Biomechanics of pollen pellet removal by the honey bee. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 18. 20210549. 10.1098/rsif.2021.0549.

Morley EL, Robert D. Electric Fields Elicit Ballooning in Spiders. Curr Biol. 2018 Jul 23;28(14):2324-2330.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.057.

Mowery, M et al. (2022). Invasive brown widow spiders disperse aerially under a broad range of environmental conditions. Ethology. 128. 10.1111/eth.13314.

Ortega-Jimenez VM, Dudley R. Spiderweb deformation induced by electrostatically charged insects. Sci Rep. 2013;3:2108. doi: 10.1038/srep02108.

Piacentini, L et al. Massive spider web aggregations in South American grasslands after flooding. Ecological Entomology,VL – 46, https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13080

Prosi, R et al. (2016). Distribution, biology and habitat of the rare European osmiine bee species Osmia (Melanosmia) pilicornis. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 52. 1-36. 10.3897/jhr.52.10441.

Ran R et al. Electrostatics facilitate midair host attachment in parasitic jumping nematodes. 21;122(42):e2503555122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2503555122.

Russell, A et al. (2017). How a generalist bee achieves high efficiency of pollen collection on diverse floral resources. 10.1093/beheco/arx058.

Russell, A et al. (2016). Concealed floral rewards and the role of experience in floral sonication by bees. 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.024.

Sahni, V.et al. Changes in the Adhesive Properties of Spider Aggregate Glue During the Evolution of Cobwebs. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00041

Ta-oun, P & Toyoshi Yoshiga, Host-associated cues and their effects on the jumping behavior of Steinernema siamkayai, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2025.105804.

Woodrow, C et al. (2024). Buzz-pollinating bees deliver thoracic vibrations to flowers through periodic biting. 10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.044.

Vollrath F, Edmonds D. Consequences of electrical conductivity in an orb spider’s capture web. doi: 10.1007/s00114-013-1120-8.

Tagged as , , , , , , .

Written by Ze Frank

Comments

This post currently has 37 comments.

  5. @milchesarreal6964

    April 4, 2026 at 12:23 am

    Learning that invertebrates use electric fields to interact with the environment is something I'm disappointed I haven't seen in any science fiction or world building works yet

  6. @brandonshuey5862

    April 4, 2026 at 12:23 am

    If I could choose a last brain meal before I kicked the bucket (or the bucket kicked me) it would be these videos. All of them. I haven't slept in days and my coworkers are concerned because I keep chuckling about butt spiders

  31. @kenneth6808

    April 4, 2026 at 12:23 am

    Meaningful engagement post to help this content creator succeed. If I am taking the time to do this, it means one of these things to me. It was funny, insightful, kind, or beautiful. I look forward to future content from you. Thank you for all of your efforts, you're appreciated.

Comments are closed.

Related
The Red Panda Problem Not Being Talked About Enough
Casual Geographic | April 17, 2026
Related
True Facts About The Fruit Bat
Ze Frank | April 17, 2026
Related
What happens after wolves abandon a den…
Voyageurs Wolf Project | April 17, 2026

This area can contain widgets, menus, shortcodes and custom content. You can manage it from the Customizer, in the Second layer section.

 

 

 

Go to album
  • play_circle_filled

    92.9 : The Torch

  • play_circle_filled

    AGGRO
    'Til Deaf Do Us Part...

  • play_circle_filled

    SLACK!
    The Music That Made Gen-X

  • play_circle_filled

    KUDZU
    The Northwoods' Alt-Country & Americana

  • play_circle_filled

    BOOZHOO
    Indigenous Radio

  • play_circle_filled

    THE FLOW
    The Northwoods' Hip Hop and R&B

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play