These Hairworms Eat A Cricket Alive And Control Its Mind | Deep Look
- Posted on 12 February, 2019
- Long Hair
- By Anonymous
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A baby hairworm hitches a ride inside a cricket, feasting on its fat until the coiled-up parasite is ready to burst out. Then it hijacks the cricket's mind and compels it to head to water for a gruesome little swim.
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If you’re out on a hike and look down at a puddle, you might spot a long, brown spaghetti-shaped creature whipping around madly in a figure 8.
It’s a hairworm – also known as a horsehair worm or Gordian worm – and researchers have described 350 species around the world. Good news: It isn’t interested in infecting or attacking humans. But if you had happened on the puddle a few hours earlier, you might have witnessed a gruesome spectacle – the hairworm wriggling out of a cricket’s body, pushing its way out like the baby monster in the movie “Alien.”
How a hairworm ends up in a puddle, or another water source such as a stream, hot tub or a pet’s water dish, is a complex story. A young hairworm finds its way into a cricket or similar insect like a beetle or grasshopper, and once it’s grown into an adult, the parasite takes over its host’s brain to hitch a ride to the water.
As a result of the infection, crickets stop growing and reproducing. Male crickets infected by hairworms even lose their chirp, said Ben Hanelt, a biologist at the University of New Mexico who studies hairworms.
--- What *is* a hair worm?
A hair worm or hairworm – pick your spelling – is a nematomorph. Nematomorpha are a group of parasites. They’re long, thin worms that can grow to be several meters long inside their host.
--- Can humans be infected by hair worms?
There are reports of humans and cats and dogs being infected by hair worms, but hair worms aren’t after us or our pets because they can’t grow inside us, said Hanelt. They can only grow inside a host like a cricket or a related insect.
“What happens is that a dog, a cat, a human will ingest an adult (hair worm) somehow,” said Hanelt. “Could a cricket crawl in your sandwich before you take a bite? I don’t know. None of the studies that are out there talk about that. What they have been reported to do is to cause in many people intestinal distress.”
--- How do hair worms control crickets’ minds?
Scientists don’t understand the precise mechanism yet, but they believe that hairworms either boost chemicals in the crickets’ brains or pump chemicals into their brains.
---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:
https://www.kqed.org/science/1937775/t...
---+ For more information:
Hairworm Biodiversity Survey: http://www.nematomorpha.net
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The day starts normally enough.. You give your pet some food and water., But later ... ... in your pet's water dish, you find this. A hairworm., It didn't get here on its own.. It came out of a little cricket.. Don'T believe me OK.. These hairworms are gnarly. Parasites. They actually control a cricket's mind to get to their home. The water. The hairworm's journey starts innocently enough in a river as an egg ... one of many in this long string. The eggs grow into squiggly larvae, which get eaten by a mayfly larva that also lives in the river. And inside. The mayfly is exactly where the hairworm needs to be.. The hairworm uses this pointy part to burrow into the mayfly's flesh.. Then it curls up and waits., Because really it's not after a mayfly., It's after a cricket., So it sits tight. While the mayfly larva turns into an adult and heads to dry land ..., where it just might get eaten by a cricket ... that has no idea what it's in for. Inside the cricket. The hairworm goes at it eating all the cricket's stored-up fat for about a month.. The cricket loses its chirp, but the hairworm doesn't kill the cricket ... ..., because the worm needs a lift back to the water. Crickets, usually avoid bodies of water. They're, not great swimmers.. So the worm takes over boosting chemicals in the cricket's brain which make the cricket walk around mindlessly until it happens to reach water. Scientists in France watched this infected cricket make a beeline for the pool.. The hairworm makes a break for it. Still going. Ugh that’s just. … ugh., But don’t worry. They don't target humans. Ready for more This one. At the University of New Mexico. ... ... has a whole lot of hairworms inside it.. They don't waste any time curling around each other to mate ... even before they're fully outside the cricket.. But it’s more than a gruesome spectacle of nature. Learning about these hairworms could help scientists ... understand parasites like toxoplasma ... that make us very sick.. As for the crickets, don't feel bad. If they don't drown, most of them survive their ordeal., At least that's what scientists have seen in the lab.. They go back to being crickets and hopefully stay on dry land. Hi, it's Lauren. Who's hungry. For more after that, We'd love to make more videos of amazing critters up close all year round., But we need your help. We're a member-supported PBS show from KQED in San Francisco.. That means to grow. We need you, our YouTube fans to support us on Patreon.. Are you in Link is in the description. Thanks
Comments
Spicy Tuna: The most amazing part of these animals is that they actually _fit_ inside their hosts. You see them come out and you can't help but wonder how the cricket, grasshopper, or mantis isn't just _bursting_ open from the tight squeeze. It all looks impossible, and I think that's what freaks people out the most.
-Saffie -: "If they don't drown, most of them survive their ordeal. They go back to being crickets!" Cricket: "Some days, I wake up, and I can still feel it inside of me, eating at me, making my body its own while I drift.. Powerless."
Jesse Scott Gunn: Thanks. Now I finally have answers to something that mildly traumatized me decades ago. I whacked a cricket with a yo yo, and a long worm came wriggling out of its butt like a soldier escaping from a flaming tank. From that point forward, I cringed whenever I saw anything or anyone eating crickets.
Nick: Parasites are the only thing on earth I'm genuinely afraid of
PantyLunatic: "Don't worry. We don't target humans." That's exactly what a hairworm WOULD say.
Ratchet: Keep in mind, the crickets wake up again after their bodies were released from the parasite. Sometimes they can even get back to land, and continue
Le Fish: This whole video is giving me chills and nausea but I can’t stop watching
Hana Oshima Piano: The same thing has been documented with praying mantis in a Japanese nature show. I didn't know that the host isn't always killed! That is incredible knowing how much of the host's body it takes up when it matures. In the case that the host dies in the process of getting to a running water source, it certainly adds to the nutrients the river carries and food for the fish! A Japanese scientist described the hairworm as a connector of the forest and river. I think their life is absolutely fascinating, and would love to learn about how other parasitic creatures' lives unfold with their hosts.
Alectricalexia: Great now I’m even more scared of bugs than I originally was before … omg now everytime I look at a bug all I’ll think about is these parasites coming out of them
Hmmm Pathetic: "But dont worry it wont control humans" Me: Yep she's infected
Mark Bunds: Holy cow, the cricket can survive this parasite? Surprising!
Parcarey: "It wont target humans" Well it will target my mental health
AFIQ 059: "Don't worry they don't target human" Umbrella corporation: that's our job
rifqi baihaqi: she said "they don't target humans" while a hairworm goes around the human swimming pool
Lucky: Me after watching this video: From now on i will never drink river water. ☠️
Keeping Up With Shamimi: So do they get their chirp back ever?
Emile Michel Hobo: I’m fascinated, but due to how nasty this looked, I’m not hungry, physically, mind-hungry, okay, yes, but food-hungry, no, definitely not. Great video. Looking forward to more.
Majora: just saying the crickets act like it was a normal tuesday and just walks away
coldstatic: "Don't feel bad, most of the crickets survive the ordeal" Yes, but at what cost-
ZGlove: Hairworm: "I belong in the water." *gets eaten by mayfly, then cricket* "I SAID 'I belong in the water!!'"
Smörgåsbord: I still think of these hairworms from time to time. I'm so glad I came across this video again!
Abhiraj Bhokare: I think I know why we won’t get affected by hairworms. It might be due to our hard to burrow through muscles and skin and we don’t even like consume crickets, mayflies, or anything which could carry it and even if we do accidently consume it and even if it targets humans, it would probably not be able to live for so long that it can’t eat too much muscle i our body.
Ariefah Amini: I've watched this video a few days ago. And today i found the same worm in my fish pond. This kinda gives me goosebumps.
Turbokaivuri: Everybody gangsta till your spaghetti start groovin
RAM: I have seen grasshoppers molt into locusts and that is good,but this is downright horrifying. If my mom ever saw this... she would scream and run... as I would
charity sapallo: People who eat crickets especially raw may get these worms.. eeewwww
꧁𝚄𝚂𝙴𝚁𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴꧂🅥: Have to give the person that voice over this a big thumbs up and respect
Ronaldo Brito Roque: There's something I've always wanted to ask a biologist. Why are babies made in one position, then have to be turned upside down to be born? Why aren't they made upside down at first?
datoon!: Why doesn't the hair worm just ask nicely for a ride to water
Topi Hintikka: Not me looking for the nearest window after that...
Emiliano Monteiro: Whoa! Hosts to Nematomorpha worm survive after the worm leaves its host!!! I didn't know that and always assumed they either drawned or were eviserated from insideout or both! Amazing... Great video!
Liliana Baglieto: This is like a horror story of nature... the music is amazing. Great video.
Heavyhead2k1: i want these as pets. Like fr, would be so cool seeing them do their thing.
J Me R u: Fun fact: The crickets are attracted to the water because of the horizontal polarity of the reflected light. They do not just happen to stumble into water or is attracted to just any light (regardless of intensity). How exactly the hairworm manipulates the cricket to be attracted to a form of light it usually avoids, is still a mystery.
Myn ona: Nature really is the most beautiful yet horrifying thing on this planet
ItsNot MBG: Just letting you guys know, hairworms control the minds of grasshoppers, locusts, and mantises.
Abhimanyu Kumar: I wonder how crickets will evolve to deal with this. Maybe then hairworms will evolve to use other insects.
Cam Duran: This is found in other species… I had an employee who did this very thing with their employees. They were quite cunning.
Deepesh Basnet: _the cameraman deserves an award for shrinking himself to shoot this video._
stevepxs: We get these every now and then crawling across our driveway. They aren’t soft and easily damaged like an earthworm. They’re about like a piece of spaghetti that’s just started to soften to the point of flexibility.
samgod: 1. What's the psychological effect on the surviving crickets? 2. How do you administer CBT on crickets?
Mist: 3:50 I dunno, I mean, I imagine having big ol' worms crawl outta ya is a bit of a harrowing experience? As harrowing as can be for an insect, anyway.
Cristian M.: I had a dream not that long ago that I pulled a really long black parasite out of my nose. It kind of looked like a hair worm, but really black. When I say it was long. It was LOOOONG. I remember I just kept on pulling and pulling and pulling. Then like any other dream it switched before I could find out what happened. It was a creepy dream
rickiex: How do you go back to normal after being mind controled?
Splint Meow: This is beautiful nature is so creative!
Yassine Kaouane: WOW the whole ordeal seems just impossible to plan, it's a jaw dropper for sure.
ダーク雪: when i was a kid i loved catching crickets, thanks for the hairworm videos i never dare to come near them again
Nash Ville: Wow when you think of all the cold blooded critters (including home reptiles) that live off of crickets!
kimbo: “They don’t kill the cricket.” Cricket drowning in the water as the chemicals make its brain tell them to keep walking:
Tony Young: actually, hairworms not only aim for crickets as their main target but also mantis, they're mostly been found on mantis here in taiwan and the mantis usually will die after the hairworm get out into the water and although they not targeting human they still will get into human body sometimes mostly by accident, like someone drinks or play in contaminate water to get it they cant survive in human body too long tho so normaly wont cause any serious problem unless they've get into some sensitive part mainly urethra, yes they could also invade your urethra in the water but mostly by accident not intended so we only got a few cases like that usually nothing need to worry about
Hugo de la Rosa Jimenez: The narrator is infected and trying to get us to lower our guard. Nice try hairworm!
Nick: I've seen one of those in real life and it's terrifying and unbelievably long
Bop Boppity: ive seen a few of these burst out of a praying mantis. gave me the chills
Poopy poop Poop: “In your pet’s water dish, you find this” Me: “KILL IT WITH FIRE AND CALL THE SCP FOUNDATION”
BluEthan: Gonna be honest, I don't know if I'd want to stay living after going through that
Melody Sundberg: Found this in a Wikipedia article... "There are a few cases of accidental parasitism in vertebrate hosts, including dogs and humans. Several cases involving Parachordodes, Paragordius, or Gordius have been recorded in human hosts in Japan and China."
KarZzz: Imagine being a cricket and seeing two hairworms hooking up while they are inside your body
Caio Rezei: 'Ugh, that's just... Ugh.' Finally, a science video in which the narrator actually says what I'm thinking out loud.
Andre: Never have i thought I would feel sorry for a cricket
Bambang Budi Prayetno: If you tried to burn them, they actually kind of resistant for few moments until their body start to "explode" several times. This thing is quite though tbh..
Seth Berg: It makes me wonder what's in our bodies that controls our minds
Trash Pixie: I remember the first hairworm I saw that crawled out a dead insect. It freaked me out.
LVΡΝ 1: So cool, I want one of these things.
Ty Hens: Fun fact, theyre considered a gordius because of their mating style. They tend to knot up with other worms, debris and leaves. It makes them resemble similar to a Gordian knot
Glxtch: Me: eats noodles with a cricket head on the side The noodles: STARTS MOVING Me: Oh yes, noodlance
kevin: I can't believe that something like a foot long grows in a cricket and it lives thru all of this
A: We call these horse hair worms. See them swimming in lakes when fishing, used to freak me put thinking horse hair turned into a living creature lol
Anonimato: "But dont worry it wont control humans" Me: I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE HUMANS, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE DOG WATER YOU EXEMPLIFIED!
Kami sama: "Everything that we see around us is God's art" *God's art :*
Sal Utauo: Makes me think why water is necessary for all life yet living creatures in the water are so much more horrific compared to creatures on land, water holds so much beauty yet so many horrors what an enigma
STEVEN GRANT: Everything in nature is a beautiful creation ☺️ NATURE WHO WANTED SOME AMOUNT OF FUN:
♛ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴛʟᴇɢɪᴏɴ♛: Man YouTube really wants me to know about Science Stuff Other than that I've learned so much about pests(is it considered a pest tho?)
yati3030: watching this makes me feel like its controling my mind
Thirty Acres: I'll never look at a cricket the same way again.
WorthySoul: The fact such a huge worm can even fit in there is impressive asf. Parasites are smart ngl.
littlepumpkinseed: I saw something simmilar in france when I was a kid saving a grasshopper.... I thought I saved it from drawning... but then that crawled out of it.... it was whitish so maybe young? Idk it was quite long. So scary but fascinating.
Mira: I remember watching a movie about this but it evolved and controlled humans
Critixil: imagine being a cricket then just going "god damn it" and then surviving and then just "well here we go again"
Fool To Magician: My girlfriend: That's disgusting Me: I like the music
- RainbowWorld -: This is f'n gross. I remember one time as a kid I was playing in the small creek that ran through the yard and I dug my hand into the sediment at the bottom of it and when I raised my arm up out of the water, there was (what I thought) a horse hair on my forearm, except that it was moving. Given my aversion to loose long hairs, I freaked out and washed it off immediately. I never knew what that was until recently, when I learned that there are hairworms that live in creeks.
ChocoChoco D: (TὢT) omg so creepy and disgusting. Thank you YouTube. I guess I will just stay away from all these insects. It’s not how they look like scares me. It’s what might parasitise inside them scare me. Imagine you happened to kill one cricket and then sth comes out from its body…
millena the foxy uwu: your channel is very interesting I watch it every day to learn and get to know species
Chad: Thank God I Thought It Will Target Humans But I Really Thank To This YouTuber
Zero Tech: “Don’t worry they don’t target humans” We have already lost one
Mashallah Meri Routine: Nice to see you. Amazing. This is really good content. It should on YouTube ✌✌. Thumbs up. Keep growing . Carry on
Aditi S.: She has such a soothing voice
tatashi: How can this big worm inside this small cricket.nature is amazing
hecker 2: "Don't worry! They don't target humans" *Yeah unless you are eating crickets*
noel-nee: "Don't worry, it doesn't infect humans." Me: *Are you sure about that?*
Ylva Wahlberg: This is so incredibly disgusting and fascinating at the same time. I don't want to watch it, but still I have to
Nyum Yumi: You can watch deranged (2012).. The movie actually based on the cricket and hairworm and they make it as a movie as human and parasite. The movie's really fun and there's a lot of suspenseful scene.. I will gave the rating as 9.5/10
Tim Sullivan: Wait - "crickets avoid bodies of water"? But that is EXACTLY where adult mayflies mate and die - on or at the edge of bodies of water. In fact, adults have no working mouth parts, since their very brief job is: emerge from water, fly above water to find mate, lay eggs in water and die. So it must indeed be a lucky hairworm larvae to somehow manage to be eaten whole by a mayfly larvae AND have its host make it to adulthood AND have that adult mayfly be lucky enough to expire near a hungry and (apparently) hopelessly LOST cricket!
Sundrop: Believe or not, worms are the most brutal creatures in this earth
cryzz0n: "Don't feel bad, most of the crickets survive the ordeal" Yes, but at what cost-
Tara K: How’d you get another insect to become your cameraman? He gets the best shots
RC: Incredible complex kind of life!
Isidoro Maich: Le enseñé este vídeo a mi hijo y le comenté "de forma casual":... y todo eso por no masticar bien la comida. ... a ver si aprende
Ananas Comossus Vtuber: I once thought that the hairworm is a toy, I picked it from the fish pond at my school. then my friend who knew that it was a parasite immediately grabbed it and stepped on it in front of me. I got angry but after he explained what animal it was, I immediately ran scared
Isaac Newton: The little face on the worm at @3:37
L: who else wishes they had a button that instantly eradicates all parasites on earth?