Water is fatal for the crickets, but the parasite relies on the water to reproduce. The researchers compared the behaviour of crickets infected with the worm against uninfected crickets, and found the infected ones were more likely to jump into the water. In 2002, researchers investigated anecdotal reports of insects infected with the parasite "committing suicide" by jumping into water. However, in some circumstances the worms can grow up to two metres in length.Īdult horsehair worms live freely in the water, but their larvae act as parasites on several different insects. The horsehair worm can range in size, with most species measuring between 50 to 100 centimetres in length. Some of the commenters on the video suggest the worm is a horsehair worm (also known as Nematomorpha or Gordian worm).
The worm continues to wriggle and squirm its way out of the insect for nearly a full minute, revealing its long slender body (which is much longer than the body of insect itself). The video, which was published in the popular blog "IFLSCIENCE!" on Monday, depicts a scene reminiscent of a sci-fi film.Īt the start of the two-and-a-half-minute video, a praying mantis is seen crawling across a flat surface before being sprayed with some sort of fluid.Ī few seconds later, a thin black worm begins to emerge from the insect. But a Canadian entomologist says he's seen the phenomenon many times before. Some people are questioning the authenticity of an online video that appears to show a parasitic worm emerging from the stomach of a praying mantis.
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