These Worms Take Over Insects and Turn Them into “Zombies”
A Facebook video shared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service went viral this week. The video showed what at first looked like a loose strand of hair, but then it quickly slithered away. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified the creature as a horsehair worm, noting that the species is just as unsettling as it appears.
The horsehair worms are a type of parasite that “possess” a host and have the ability to command it like a puppet, the service reported.
The worm acts by laying its eggs in water and then waiting for an insect to drink the larval worms. Once inside a host, the horsehair worm grows undetected until it is ready to violently emerge.
“It will take over the host insect … like a zombie,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
“Then, the now adult horsehair worm will burst out of the insect’s abdomen, a la the chest burster in ‘Alien.’ … This is a basic description, it’s a bit more complicated but SO interesting!”
According to the service, the worms are “harmless to humans and pets.”
“We don’t see them often because they live inside insects most of their lives,” the wildlife service wrote. “They can be easily overlooked, mistaken for a plant vine, or trash, or even horse hairs.”
According to the University of Minnesota Extension Service, horsehair worms can grow up to 14 inches long. They can often be seen in puddles, swimming pools, water takes, and on wet plants.
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