Meet The Worm That Hunts With A Slime Cannon — A Biologist Explains

InnovationScienceMeet The Worm That Hunts With A Slime Cannon — A Biologist ExplainsByScott Travers,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world.Follow AuthorMay 09, 2026, 02:30pm EDTThis unassuming worm hunts with a self-assembling slime net. Here’s what scientists have uncovered about its biology, behavior and evolution.gettyWhen picturing a predator, most people envision an animal with immense speed, sharp teeth or deadly venom. But velvet worms (Onychophora) are perhaps the opposite. They’re slow and soft-bodied, and yet they’re also remarkably effective hunters. This is thanks to a built-in weapon that you wouldn’t believe until you saw it for yourself: a slime cannon that fires liquid threads into the air to create woven, gooey traps.After decades of careful experimental work, researchers have fully unpacked the different factors that make this strategy so effective, from biomechanics to materials science. Here’s how it works, what the slime is made of and why evolution arrived at something so unusual in the first place.How The Velvet Worm Produces SlimeThe velvet worm’s slime begins as a liquid stored inside specialized glands that run along the animal’s body. When needed, the liquid is expelled through a pair of small structures near the head (oral papillae) in two rapid jets. In a 2017 study published in Nature Communications, researchers analyzed the makeup of this viscous fluid and discovered that it’s a highly structured protein solution. Inside the worm, it exists as a suspension of microscopic particles known as nanoglobules, which are composed primarily of proteins and lipids. These nanoglobules act as building blocks, and they’re held in a stable, liquid state.But as soon as it’s ejected, something remarkable happens. As the slime stretches through the air and encounters mechanical stress, those nanoglobules begin to reorganize. The proteins rap...