Earlier this year, graduate student Troy Alexander discovered an oddly intricate maypole-like structure in the Peruvian Amazon. Since then, nobody has been able to conclusively say what made it. Now, a team of biologists says it's close to solving the mystery.


The first major update on the structures came yesterday evening from Phillip Torres and Lary Reeves, members of the research team devoted to identifying the bug (or spider, or fungus) responsible for these remarkable little creations:


The update was followed this morning by a Facebook post from Rainforest Expedition's Tambopata Research Center (where Alexander was stationed when he first encountered the mystery structure earlier this year) confirming that more of the structures had been discovered. A few minutes later, Torres shared the Research Center's post, adding that the mystery is being solved "by the hour" and that they would update their findings soon.

No word yet on why the researchers believe the answer is at hand. Are they waiting for something to hatch? Are they running tests on samples? We can't wait to find out. We'll keep you posted on any updates!