Horsehair Worms or Gordian worms is a common name used for parasitic animals of phylum Nematomorpha. They are found in damp areas such as watering troughs, streams, puddles, and cisterns. Most species have a body length ranging from 50 to 100 centimeters and body diameter from 1 to 3 millimeters. In extreme cases they can even reach up to 2 meters long. The adult worms are free living, but the larvae are parasitic on beetles, cockroaches, orthopterans, and crustaceans.
Horsehair Worms
3 comments:
Yes, very interesting!
yours are huge!!
I found out about these worms a couple of years ago as I found some in my swimming-pool!
I did some research, talked to the chemist and conclusion:
The larvae develops inside a host, usually a cricket, a hopper.... and as they reach the time to breed, they secrete a "toxin" that drives unwillingly that host to a water spot so they can "hatch" out and reproduce in the water before the "offspring" finds a new host and re-enacts the cycle!
It takes many species to make a world!!
Yuck! Never heard about that worm! Don't feel like going for a swim in a lake now!
Lots of fabulous shots in your blog!
Thanks for sharing;o)
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Happy day****
I was taking a bath at my grandmas house and she had just cleaned the tub out and sprayed it out, after filling the tub I got in and about ten minutes later I found one in the tub by my feet. Is it more likely the worm came off of me or (its a jet tub so it has six water jets in it) from inside one of the jets? And should I be worried that it was in the house never the less in the bath tub that I was in?
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