When the English team exposed caterpillars to electric fields similar to those produced by flying wasps, the caterpillars exhibited defensive behavior Coiling, flapping, biting, etc. “This basically hints that prey and predators can sense each other through static electricity alone,” England said.
Behavioral ecologist Dornhaus questioned whether the electrical reception was buying the caterpillars much of their time. However, the high-stakes risks involved in predator-prey conflicts suggest that any benefits may be important. “For an individual caterpillar, even a small increase in the chance of surviving the encounter is an evolutionarily meaningful behavior,” she says.
“Biology is always an opportunist,” said Ortega-Jiménez, who was hesitant but impressed by the British study. He’s eager for more data, ideally from wild animals, that examine naturalistic behavior. “Who is winning this game? Who makes better use of static electricity?” he asked. “What are the types of predators and prey?”
A cinnabar moth caterpillar coils in a defensive posture. Larval sensory hairs may be able to detect electrostatic fields produced by predators such as wasps.Photo: Courtesy of Sam J. England
As evidence mounts linking stasis and survival, a story is emerging that evolution may fine-tune the ability to sense and hold charge, like other traits. “The fact that there are so many different species with different ecologies makes this research so interesting,” said Beth Harris, a graduate student in Robert’s lab. “There’s a real treasure chest to open.”
electrical inheritance
As research continues in Robert’s lab, so too does the suspicion that the detection and accumulation of static electricity in insects and arachnids is no coincidence. Caterpillars with better electroreceptivity, or nocturnal moths carrying a lower charge, may be better able to evade predators. If they survive and reproduce further, their genes and traits (including genes that help organisms sense and exploit static magnetic fields) may become stronger and more common in later generations. There is.
It’s becoming impossible to ignore the idea that static electricity may have a greater influence in the animal kingdom than we know today. Entire ecosystems may depend on hidden electric fields. “If we suddenly took away static electricity, I don’t think we would have a mass extinction,” England said. “But I think you’d be surprised how many animals have to adapt to not using it.”
Electrostatic forces act on millimeter and centimeter scales, but their overall effects can be much larger. For example, social bees such as bumblebees collect food for other colony members and their larvae. Foragers make hundreds of decisions about flowers every day, and many other bees also depend on those decisions. “What we think is a fairly subtle difference at the individual level, being able to detect flowers just a second earlier, may have very important evolutionary implications for bees.” , says Dornhaus, who studies how bees interact with flowers.
If static electricity helps pollination, it could also change plant evolution. “Perhaps some fundamental features of a flower are actually just helping to generate the right electrostatic field. And since we can’t see the flower, we can’t see the flower’s life cycle. We’ve been ignoring the whole thing,” Dornhaus said. This idea isn’t that far-fetched. In 2021, Robert’s team observed petunias releasing even more plants. compounds that attract insects Around the electric field like a bee. This suggests that the flowers are waiting until pollinators are nearby and actively trying to get them closer, Robert said.
