Adult worms measure 1/25 inch in diameter and may reach 1 foot or more in length. She typically lays her eggs in water plants. Once the horsehair worm exits the body of an insect, if it does not find another host, this emerging actually completes the life cycle. The life cycle begins when a male and female horsehair worm mate in soil or freshwater. An insect will eat this vegetation, as is their habit, and in so doing they ingest the larvae. Not surprisingly, insects that are afflicted with horsehair worms tend to die because of the parasitic worm’s presence, although insects can survive if a horsehair worm exits their body before fully maturing. Although it is more common to find horsehair worms in bodies of water such as swimming pools and streams, this is not always the case. “Gordian worms” because their coiled up bodies look like Gordian knots), which we are fairly certain is what our reader found. They do not hitch rides on insects’ skin, wings or other areas of the body. This is why our reader found a horsehair worm in his swimming pool. Horsehair worms are able to enter insects because they (the insects) consume the larvae of horsehair worms, which are hidden in small cysts on certain types of vegetation. Another amazing thing about the horsehair worm is its ability to manipulate its body into many forms. Once the eggs hatch into larvae, they live inside cysts in vegetation — vegetation that is ingested by crickets, grasshoppers and other insects or bugs. Amazingly, once the horsehair worm reaches maturity inside of the host, it can live out the rest of its life from the nutrients and energy obtained from the host.
The horsehair worm is so thin that it can develop and grow to its maximum length inside the body cavity of small cricket. The reader only asked if he found some sort of worm, and since horsehair worms are of course worms, the technical answer to our reader’s question is a mere “yes.” But one-word answers maketh a good article not, so we’ll give you some information about horsehair worms, with which we have some familiarity thanks to their prevalence and the frequency with which we receive questions about horsehair worms.Horsehair worms are definitely one of the more bizarre worms you can come across because of their extraordinary body dimensions. Your place to find out all about worms, caterpillars, and other (not so) creepy crawlies.Horsehair worms or “Gordian Worms” find their way into small bodies of water by way of other insects. While commonly known as horsehair worms, Nematomorpha are actually a phylum of parasitoid animals.
Ew, right?Horsehair worms can grow up to 3.2 feet (one meter) and only 0.03 inches (3 millimeters) in diameter, which is about as wide as a kite string. After this period of growth, the horsehair worm will emerge from the insect, often through its mouth, but this only occurs if the insect is near water.
They have been spotted emerging from a cricket in the toilet after the insect has been dumped there, and they have even been spotted in pet’s water bowls. Unless you kill them right after exiting the body, they will parasitize another insect. Here is a nice photo (which even includes a ruler!) Hubby pulled it out and brought it into the house for me to look up on the web. Horsehair worms occur in knotted masses or as single worms in water sources such as ponds, rain puddles, swimming pools, animal drinking troughs, and even domestic water supplies. They are commonly found in puddles of water, on damp sidewalks and patios, or as they emerge from bodies of their insect hosts. It is not uncommon to find worms in swimming pool water. Presumably, an insect with a horsehair worm was near the pool, and this prompted the horsehair worm to exit the insect’s body.
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