Scientists have discovered how a tiny worm-like creature with no arms, legs or wings nonetheless manages to perform stupendous leaps through the air. The acrobatic feats of these larvae were first noticed by Mike Wise of Roanoke College a few years ago, and now, in the Journal of Experimental Biology, he and some colleagues explain this critter's unusual trick. Wise studies how plants defend themselves from hungry insects, and one day he was dissecting tumor-like swellings on goldenrod that form around the maggot-like larvae of developing flies. "The larvae get as big, when they're full grown, as, say, a small...