Nematomorpha Wikipedia
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Horsehair worms, Phylum Nematomorpha, are nematode-like parasites that develop as larvae inside insects. Once the larval worm matures, it waits for the insect to die or fall into water so that the worm can emerge to complete its life cycle in water. Adult horsehair worms are aquatic and lay millions of eggs in a stringy, gelatinous mass (some strings are more than 7 feet long!). The worms develop inside the host insect and eventually kill it. Some horsehair worms grow almost 28 inches long (!) but all of them are extremely slender. The newly released horsehair worms are white or pale, but soon darken to brown or almost black.
Horsehair Worms
If an insect such as a mantid, cricket, or carabid beetle consumes an adult with an encysted worm, the worm emerges from the cyst and completes its development in the second host. 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, animals, or plants. They may also be found on damp garden soil or vegetable plants after rain. During the life cycle of gordiids, the parasites influence the behavior of the host, compelling it to approach water (Thomas et al., 2002, Hanelt et al., 2005).
Life Cycle
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 cabbage leaves. Since they are usually contorted into “knots”, the name Gordian worm was used by some. According to Greek legend, King Gordius of Phrygia tied a complicated knot.
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These cases are best explained by accidental swallowing of a gordiid with drinking water originating from natural sources. The movement of the gordiid worm may cause irritation, leading to vomiting. Gordiids may pass through the intestinal tract which were then found in the feces. The cuticle of mature gordiids is extremely rigid and probably withstands the passage through the human intestinal tract. There are few unconvincing reports of gordiids present within human tissue, see Schmidt-Rhaesa (2013) for detailed discussion.
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Use a fine mesh filter if pumping water from a surface supply such as a canal or pond. If the worms occur in swimming pools, they can be removed by hand or with a net. They are beneficial because of the small percentage of crickets that they kill. No control measures are needed when this interesting worm is found.
Health of the people, individuals and population, should be considered against the interaction of animal-human (and vice versa) occurring in the common living environment. Finally, some preparasitic horsehair worm larvae encyst on leaves or other debris when a water source dries up. If a suitable host, such as a millipede, eats this cyst when ingesting vegetation, the horsehair worm larvae can move into the parasitic stage. Horsehair worms are harmless to vertebrates, because they can't parasitize people, livestock, pets, or birds. If humans ingest the worms, they may encounter some mild discomfort of the intestinal tract, but infection never occurs.
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 hairlike body sometimes grows to a length of 1 m (about 39 inches). Domestic water supply systems should be filtered, chemically treated, and inspected for necessary repairs, especially when the homeowner discovers horsehair worms in wash water, bathtubs, or sinks. Moreover, it isn't unusual to find horsehair worms in the home in such places as shower stalls or toilets where crickets may die and worms emerge into the water. Prevent nuisance insects such as crickets, which are known hosts, from entering the home by caulking or sealing entryways.
Human Encounter with a Horsehair Worm (Nematomorpha): Is There a Reason To Worry?
Section trough anterior portion of the worm, CU - cuticle, ML - muscle layer, x160; B. CU - cuticle, ML - muscle layer, NC - nerve cord, I – intestine, P- parenchyma, x160. Horsehair worms belong to the phylum Nematomorpha, from the Greek word meaning thread-shaped, class Gordioida. They are also called Gordian worms, because they will often twist into a loose ball-shaped knot resembling the baffling one Gordius created in the Greek myth and that is referred to as the Gordian knot. Horsehair worms often twist into a loose ball-shaped knot, such as these adults.
The first person to untie it would be the future ruler of Asia. Alexander the Great was not able to untie the knot so he cut through it with his sword. Although biologists have partially untied the mystery of these knotty worms, certain aspects of their biology are still coiled up tightly. If the worms are found in livestock water troughs, the water can be kept clean with routine flushing.
Bring to their doctor’s office for the confirmation that the worm has been the cause of their complaints. We report here a new record of a Spinochordodes bacescui (Căpuşe, 1965). As this specimen was found after urination, we discuss the often misinterpreted association with gordiids and humans. Scanning electron microscopical images of the cuticular surface of Spinochordodes bacescui. The Iowa State University Plant & Insect Diagnostic Clinic will identify your insect, provide information on what it eats, life cycle, and, if it is a pest the best ways to manage them. Please see our website for current forms, fees, and instructions on preserving and mailing insects.
They are not parasites of humans, livestock, or pets and pose no public health threat. For other horsehair worm species, the larvae of water-inhabiting insects (mayflies, mosquitoes, and chironomids) or tadpoles ingest the preparasitic larvae. When horsehair larvae are ingested by these organisms, they encyst (enclose themselves in a cystlike structure) in the host's body cavity and remain encysted as this initial host develops into an adult.
The photo documentation, used for microscopic analysis, was obtained using an Olympus BX50 light microscope equipped with a Leica DFC295 digital camera (Leica Microsystems, Germany). The patient, a 73 years old man, reported seeing a hairworm whilst urinating in a container which had stayed during the day in the open air. The event took place at end of August 2020 in Eastern Serbia, in the rural settlement Vrbovac (43° 41′ 11″ N; 21° 44′ 31″ E).
The nature of this behavioral impact is still not completely understood, but the effect is that hosts search for water and even enter water, which is beyond their natural behavior. This behavior can transport gordiid worms to nearly any accumulation of water, including cattle troughs, drinking pots for pets, toilets and more. The host often survives the emergence of the parasite (Schmidt-Rhaesa 2013). 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.
As the worms wriggle about in water, they become tangled up into a loose knot, hence the other common name, Gordian worms (after the famous Gordian Knot). Spinochordodes bacescui was already reported in an association with humans. In the first case, around 12 worms were found in the vomitus, the first time about a dozen parasites and 20 days later another two. In the second case, one parasite was found in the stool, and in the third case, in the same location as the second case, a worm was found in a bath tub (Pikula et al., 1996 described the first two cases in more detail).
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