Parasitic Worm Ejects from Dead Spider (video)

This is unsettling to say the least, it doesn't even look real. It looks plastic but it is definitely alive. Dare I say... enjoy?!
Warning - the volume gets LOUD at the very end... I suggest watching on mute, as there is nothing of value to listen to.

ah this is the most disgusting thing ive ever seen in my life...

This actually made me feel very weak..

I encountered a parasitic worm much like that one a few years ago at the Lake of the Ozarks. The difference was that it was thinner and black. It came out of a cricket I had accidentally stepped on and I remember thinking the cricket had to have been almost completely hollow for it to have fit inside. It was about 9 inches long when it had finally completely exited. I wish I could remember what my friend had said it was but he said they were a growing problem in the area.

Edit to add: It was called a horsehair worm www.extension.umn.edu...

reply to post by six67seven


Parasitic Worms of Insects
Reviewed by Bruce A. Barrett
Division of Plant Sciences
Horsehair worms

Horsehair wormHorsehair worms or hairworms are a group of nematode-like long worms (Phylum Nematomorpha; Class Gordioidea). Their name is based on an old superstition that the worms arise from horsehairs that happen to fall into the water. The body of a horsehair worm is threadlike (1 millimeter in diameter) and can be very long, up to 36 centimeters (14 inches). They vary in color from almost white to light tan to dark brown. The adults, which do not feed, are free-living and can be found in water (running or standing) and damp soil.

Eggs are deposited in water or damp soil. After hatching, the juvenile worm enters the body of an arthropod, such as beetles, cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, centipedes, millipedes, cabbage worms and probably many other insects. The larva either penetrates the host's body wall or is ingested. After a period of time, ranging from several weeks to months, during which numerous molts occur, the worms leave the host. Emergence from the host only occurs when the host is near water. The presence of the mature worm inside seems to "drive" the host to water.

Adult horsehair worms may attract attention by forming a loose, intertwined "ball" squirming and twisting about on the soil, vegetable plants (such as cabbage heads), water troughs, toilet bowls or any place where the host happened to be when the worm left its body.

Horsehair worms do not cause any injury to people or plants, but are actually beneficial because they kill the insect in which they develop.
Mermithid nematodes

Other common worm parasites of insects belong to the roundworm Family Mermithidae (Phylum Nematoda). These nematodes are free-living in the adult stage and parasitic in an animal host for at least part of their juvenile stage. Mermithid nematodes are long and slender, similar to horsehair worms, and usually range in length from 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches). They are gray to black in color.

The adult mermithid is found in the soil (occasionally under stones) or mud and does not feed. Its life span varies from a few days to months, depending upon the stored supply. Eggs are deposited in the soil; after hatching, the larvae enter a host's body, either through ingestion or by penetrating the host's body wall.

After a period of time, the immature worm will leave its host to complete its development in the soil environment. Mermithid nematodes parasitize almost all groups of insects and are considered beneficial organisms.

aww that was so cute.

and unrelated to this, i'm now going to make myself a flamethrower.

en.wikipedia.org...

This is nearly as disgusting as a bot fly.
I love it

Aughhh! Now I feel like ejecting a tuna sandwich on my computer.

reply to post by TFCJay


well, just watched it again...yep, still disgusting
i'll never look at spaghetti the same again

Originally posted by six67seven
reply to post by TFCJay

 

well, just watched it again...yep, still disgusting
i'll never look at spaghetti the same again

edit on 12-1-2013 by six67seven because: (no reason given)

That's exactly what I said to my girlfriend. She thought about making spaghetti tonight haha. Never again.
So gross!!!

reply to post by bigbeefy


That spider was probably looking for death with that thing living inside it. There couldn't have been much left of the spider, in regards to it's insides. That parasite was probably in control of the spider like the it was at the helm of a submarine... and that's even more disturbing. Some parasites do exactly that to their host.

No the spider was just an avatar for an alien.No seriously I have wittnessed this myself.Not a pretty sight is it?