Horsehair Worm facts: not for the squeamish | Animal Fact Files

Horsehair worms are an entirely parasitic animal phylum. As adults, these worms live in streams, ponds, rivers... your toilet(!), but horsehair worm larvae live inside arthropods. Preferably terrestrial arthropods. Which means for the adults to return to water they have to mind control their hosts back into the water. It can be a gruesome affair. Thankfully, horsehair worms want nothing to do with us!

Scientific Name: Phylum - Nematomorpha
Range: worldwide except Antarctica
Size: an inch (2.54cm) to more than 6.5 feet (2m) in length
Diet: absorb nutrients from arthropod hosts
Lifespan: a few months to a few years

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Image and Video Credits:
Derek Wheaton - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw6vDnszf18
Ed Wiebe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn63xEpu3JE
Pier Paolo Puxeddu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM0vQoX3nHE
JK Trk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxTQyQ8ms2w
tingkangtingkang - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTP9QdrkI2o
kepaluri - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtstbb-thzs
Elizabeth Nicodemus - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ecarey/2915141106
Alastair Rae - https://www.flickr.com/photos/merula/14629048952
Timm Meunier - https://www.flickr.com/photos/auxiliarist/18931139721
Jerry Kirkhart - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkirkhart35/470981762; https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkirkhart35/1288436225
Don Loarie - https://www.flickr.com/photos/loarie/16344883020; https://www.flickr.com/photos/loarie/16530625391
Frost Museum - https://www.flickr.com/photos/93467196@N02/25557839312; https://www.flickr.com/photos/93467196@N02/25676580945
Gilles San Martin - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanmartin/7973589340
Bildspende von D. Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa, Veröffentlichung - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paragordius_tricuspidatus.jpeg
Marton Zsoldos - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H%C3%BArf%C3%A9reg.jpg
Esv - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nematomorpha_Somiedo.JPG; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nematomorpha.JPG
Traumrune - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nematomorphe.ogv
Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa1, Lalramliana - https://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=2511
Peter Kuttner - https://vimeo.com/213310271
Research Credits:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Freshwater_Animal_Diversity_Assessment/Dw4H6DBHnAgC
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Thorp_and_Covich_s_Freshwater_Invertebra/LB-OAwAAQBAJ
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Freshwater_Invertebrates_in_Central_Euro/yrvEBAAAQBAJ
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Multicellular_Animals/zAVJCAAAQBAJ
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ecology_and_Classification_of_North_Amer/iOI9ifbikoQC
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Nematomorpha
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef613
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/nematomorpha
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/horsehair_worms.htm

Видео Horsehair Worm facts: not for the squeamish | Animal Fact Files канала Animal Fact Files