Horsehair Worm Coming out of a Praying Mantis - Ewwwwww

Well that was pretty gross.
chingalerasays...

>> ^Sagemind:

The poor thing, that must of filled his entire abdomen.
..OK the worm is out, remove the patient from the water already....


So is it a good thing that the hand squeezed the worm out of the praying mantis?? ...\
WHOA!! "....the infection acts on the insect's brain and causes it to seek water and drown itself, thus returning the nematomorph to water. They are also remarkably able to survive the predation of their host, being able to wriggle out of the predator that has eaten the host." -wiki

Porksandwichsays...

Things that control the brain of it's host is disturbing as all hell. If I remember correctly there are some that infect ants and cause them to seek high points, then the things bursts from it's head and flies away.

You just know some scientist somewhere is making one to control humans.

kceaton1says...

Yeah...the day we get a virus, bacteria, or straight up parasitic organism that can tell our brains to do certain things--I'm quiting the human species (I might be overstating it, but I certainly will become very paranoid concerning certain conditions, if you understand me), assuming it looks like this is going to be able to be spread via a fairly hardy species of: younameit. Zombies are one thing, but seriously I REALLY, REALLY, do not want these type of attacks to EVER reach us. Could you even imagine?

On the other side of things, I wonder if that is considered as the best dump evAr.(?) Second, it seems like it just a GREAT species as it seemingly has atleast two worms from the onset of infection (although it looked to me as though there was atleast one more still to come). I mean can the Praying Mantis even survive this event? Is it now the Prayed Upon Mantis instead?

All of the fungi, insects, and other species that use mind or nuerochemicals on their prey and then FORCE their prey to do any sort of commands to do miscellaneous things (like this one, get to water the natural home for that creature). It's literally amazing and terrifying at the same time. My scientific side is extremely engrossed by this and I'm literally in wonder at the amazing biochemistry at play--needed to do this hijack of the mind and to literally reboot it with a new program that told a FOREIGN BODY, something with literally no connection to the predator, it took control and got that body to go to a body of water so that the "litter" could hatch in their primal environment--a TRUE wonder of evolution, even though it is used in such a terrible way, it may have huge things in store for us research wise.

I'm waiting for the day that one of these little bastards makes a little leap and crosses-over and affects humans. Could you even begin to imagine the panic? I imagine that whatever it is would be much like smallpox and shortly after a few infections it would be eliminated from the face of the planet.

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