Horsehair worms are an entirely parasitic animal phylum. As adults, these worms live in streams, ponds, rivers... your toilet(!), but horsehair worm larvae live inside arthropods. Preferably terrestrial arthropods. Which means for the adults to return to water they have to mind control their hosts back into the water. It can be a gruesome affair. Thankfully, horsehair worms want nothing to do with us!

Scientific Name: Phylum Nematomorpha
Range: worldwide except Antarctica
Size: an inch (2.54cm) to more than 6.5 feet (2m) in length
Diet: absorb nutrients from arthropod hosts
Lifespan: a few months to a few years

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Image and Video Credits:
Derek Wheaton    • Horsehair Worm  Phylum Nematomorpha  
Ed Wiebe    • Mermithidae? Nematode worm. This one'...  
Pier Paolo Puxeddu    • Video  
JK Trk    • Húrférgek / Nematomorpha / horsehair ...  
tingkangtingkang    • 사마귀에서 연가시 나옴  
kepaluri    • Mantis friend!  


Elizabeth Nicodemus https://www.flickr.com/photos/ecarey/...
Alastair Rae https://www.flickr.com/photos/merula/...
Timm Meunier https://www.flickr.com/photos/auxilia...
Jerry Kirkhart https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkirkha... https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkirkha...
Don Loarie https://www.flickr.com/photos/loarie/... https://www.flickr.com/photos/loarie/...
Frost Museum https://www.flickr.com/photos/9346719... https://www.flickr.com/photos/9346719...
Gilles San Martin https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanmart...


Bildspende von D. Andreas SchmidtRhaesa, Veröffentlichung https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Marton Zsoldos https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Esv https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Traumrune https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...


Andreas SchmidtRhaesa1, Lalramliana https://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles....
Peter Kuttner https://vimeo.com/213310271


Research Credits:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/...
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef613
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/m...