Some horsehair worms grow almost 28 inches long (!) but all of them are extremely slender. The worms develop inside the host insect and eventually kill it. The tiny, newly hatched larvae swim about for a day or so and then are thought to encyst on vegetation where they are accidently consumed by crickets, grasshoppers, beetles or some other insects or the larvae may be ingested as its host insect drinks infested water. Adult horsehair worms are aquatic and lay millions of eggs in a stringy, gelatinous mass (some strings are more than 7 feet long!). 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. Horsehair worms, Phylum Nematomorpha, are nematode-like parasites that develop as larvae inside insects. The stick to the right of it is my walking stick, which is about 1 in diameter.Description and Biology Skip to Description and Biology It was about 15 inches or maybe more if it had been straight. The other common name, Gordian Worm, refers to the Gordian Knot of mythology that could not be untangled, and it is a perfect visual metaphor for a Horsetail Worm when it is contracted into a ball. Horsehair Worm is the name we are using to describe the image you submitted because the creature is stretched out and really does resemble a hair from a horse’s tail or mane, and we suspect the illusion might even be more startling given the opportunity to view the worm submerged in water. We are quite fond of both descriptive common names for this parasite. Thank you for sending in your awesome image. How you want your letter signed: A Texas Master Naturalist Horsehair Worm It was observed following a rain Jan 27, 2018. Your letter to the bugman: Here is another example of a Gordian worm. Geographic location of the bug: Washington, Texas
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