"This worm and its surreal, tree-like body made headlines around the world in 2021 and 2022, yet it continues to amaze us," said Thilo Schulze, Ph.D. researcher at Göttingen University.

Many flies are hard to tell apart in their juvenile life stage, so Sikes cared for larvae collected from a second snake worm sighting in 2007 until they morphed into their dark-winged fly form.

As you tend to your garden this summer, there's a creepy, crawly creature to be on the lookout for: an invasive worm that moves like ... and can even shed their tails to escape," when they are ...

A head and a hundred tails: How a branching worm manages reproductive complexity. ScienceDaily . Retrieved June 11, 2025 from www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2025 / 05 / 250519204531.htm ...