A velvet worm might be nearly blind, but it's got a weapon: It can slime its prey from nearly a foot away, and paralyze it. The worm can shoot two sticky ropes up to a foot long that incapacitate unwary bugs, making them easy prey.
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "World's Deadliest: Bizarre Slime Cannon Attack ", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/invertebrates-animals/other-invertebrates/deadliest-velvet-worm/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [ { "url": "http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/earthworm/", "name": "Common Earthworm Profile" } ] }, "credit": "National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/deadliest-velvet-worm.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/deadliest-velvet-worm/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/core_media/ngphoto/image/51792_0_616x346.jpg", "transcript": "As it wends its way through the rainforest, something captures this velvet worm's attention:
No, it's not the fire beetle's flashing green light.
Velvet worms are nearly blind.
But they're super sensitive to air currents caused by movement.
That's how they find their prey.
And they love beetles.
The worm itself moves so slowly, prey doesn't notice it creeping up.
It's packing heat: two pistols that fire sticky ropes-each up to a foot long.
This barrage of gunfire is meant to paralyze prey with a quick-drying adhesive.
Slimed.
The worm brandishes yet another concealed weapon-a knife in its jaw-used to pierce the body and inject saliva to liquefy the insides.
The result: a beetle milkshake.
", "id": "deadliest-velvet-worm" } }