Caterpillars respond defensively to electric fields similar to those emitted by their natural predators, scientists at the University of Bristol have found.
Lead author Dr Sam England explained:"We knew that many animals naturally accumulate static electricity on their bodies as they move around their environment, and that static electricity can push and pull on other charged objects. The team measured how much static charge wasps and caterpillars carry by having them pass through a static charge sensor. They then inputted these charge values into computational models to mathematically predict how strong the electric field would be when a wasp approaches a caterpillar on a plant.
Predator-prey interactions are a matter of life and death and as such they are one of the main drivers of evolution in animals. Almost all animals on land appear to accumulate static charge meaning this static electric sense may be widespread, and the discovery that static electricity plays a role in these ecological interactions stands to open up entirely new dimensions to our understanding of how animals sense each other, and more generally how and why they evolve in certain ways.
"This study presents the first example of an animal detecting its predators by sensing the static electricity being emitted by the predator. This unveils a new dimension to predator-prey interactions on land, but also hints at a previously unnoticed way in which we might be negatively impacting wildlife -- by introducing sources of electrical sensory pollution."Researchers have recorded and analyzed sounds distinctly emitted by plants.