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Horsehair worm. Scientific name: Nematomorpha. Horsehair worms are parasitic worms of the clade Nematoida alongside their sister taxa Nematoda, the roundworms. The most famous trait of certain species of horsehair worms is the ability to alter the behaviour of grasshoppers and crickets to seek water, causing the host to drown itself to complete ...
Nematomorpha (sometimes called Gordiacea, and commonly known as horsehair worms, hairsnakes, [1] [2] [3] or Gordian worms) are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size from 50 to 100 millimetres (2.0 to 3.9 in), reaching 2 metres (79 in) in extreme cases, and 1 to 3 millimetres (0.039 to 0.118 in) in diameter.
Horsehair worms are very long (4 to 14 inches) and very narrow in diameter (1/25 to 1/16 inch wide). Amazingly, the entire horsehair worm grew and developed as a parasite inside the body cavity of crickets and other large insects such as grasshoppers, katydids, beetles, and cockroaches. This internal parasite of insects does not harm humans ...
Oct 3, 2024 · Horsehair worm, any of the approximately 250 to 300 species of the class Nematomorpha, or Gordiacea (phylum Aschelminthes). The young of these long, thin worms are parasitic in arthropods. The adults are free-living in the sea or in freshwater. The hairlike body sometimes grows to a length of 1 m.
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Adults mate in water and females lay long gelatinous strings of eggs. Depending on water temperature, the eggs hatch in 2 weeks to 3 months. The life of the microscopic larvae is not completely understood. Within 24 hours of hatching, the worm is thought to form a protective covering or cyst. If the cyst is eaten by a suitable insect, the protectiv...
These long, slender creatures are harmless so there is no need for control. Their presence indicates that a cricket or some other host insects got in the container and died, releasing the worm. Check for cracks or openings that can be screened or sealed. The horsehair worms are not a problem but contamination from other sources can be.
Tangled masses of these worms can be found In the spring. This has led to a variety of stories about their origin. The name “horsehair worm” refers to the old belief that they came from horse hairs that fell into water and came to life. Cabbagehair worm is used in some localities because they can be found in the water droplets that collect in cabba...
Horsehair worms are mostly a curiosity and come to people's attention because of their large size and sinister appearance. Their common name, horsehair worm, is derived both from their long thin appearance and the fact that they sometimes occur in livestock watering tanks, where they emerge from drowned grasshoppers that carelessly landed upon water.
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How do horsehair worms reproduce?
Mar 2, 2020 · The nematomorpha (Horsehair Worms) are relatively long, thin worms (1-3 mm diametre and 10-100 cm length). They are a smallish phylum, with about 361 known species. They are called Horsehair Worms because they used to be found in horse watering troughs and they look like the hairs from a horses tail.
