A mysterious ‘worm tornado’ invaded this N.J. sidewalk. Here’s why.
A “worm tornado” stunned social media users this week, with pictures showing hundreds of worms crowding a Hoboken sidewalk in a bizarre spiral shape.
“I posted (a photo of) them, not at all in a million years anticipating the response it would get, and the response has only been unbelievable and entertaining and educational,” Hoboken Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher told NJ Advance Media.
She woke up Thursday morning to a call from a constituent trying to explain the unusual sight outside Maxwell Park on Sinatra Drive. ...
But while it’s widely known that worms appear this time of year as well as after rain, experts don’t seem to have an answer on what caused the unique formation of the Hoboken cluster.
“The crop circle part of it, I have no idea,” Nick Henshue, a University of Buffalo professor of environment and sustainability, told NJ Advance Media. “Why are they in that spiral – I’ve never seen that before.” ...
Mary Ann Victoria Bruns, a Penn State University professor of soil microbiology and biogeochemistry, said she has seen the circular phenomenon before, calling it “swarming.” While she said “the cool scientific curiosity” hasn’t been studied in depth and the exact cause is unknown, the cluster likely starts when worms touch one another or transmit chemical cues, attracting others to the swarm. ...
Henshue suspected the worms were looking for a new burrow and came above ground in what turned into a mass mating event. ...
