Death by Horsehair Worm

What you're looking at below is a handful of adult horsehair worms. You'll see that they vary quite a bit in length and color, but all have the appearance of wriggling, coarse hairs or wire.

But it's not the adults that are so fascinating. It's their life cycle before reaching maturity that is the most intriguing.

Photo source: Texas A & M






















The next time you see a beetle or a grasshopper floating dead in the water, don't assume it was a case of a simple drowning. In fact, in the case of the potato bug, more often than not it was murder (cue screechy stabbing noise...)

The young horsehair worm begins life as an egg that is ingested by a hapless insect. The egg then hatches, and the little worm grows inside its host in typical parasite fashion. But the worm doesn't stop there. No, it will settle for nothing less than the death of its host. And it does so by causing the host to drown itself, so that the matured worm(s) might burst forth into the water just in time to mate.

Wow, murder, betrayal, mating. This has all the hallmarks of a good soap opera.

Thanks for the horsehair worm, Rae.