[Michaelangelica]

Seeing the useless Hypography search engine will not find 'parasites' or 'parasite'

The juvenile nematomorph hairworm is a parasite in insects. They grow from a tiny cyst to a gigantic worm that inhabits most of the animal's cavity. They then induce their host to jump into the water, effectively committing suicide. Geesh.

I guess I will have to post this here.
Parasitic worm causes host to commit suicide - 60 Second Science

[freeztar]

Please post articles such as this in the News in Brief section as it is a copyrighted article.

Here is the link to the parasites thread.

[Michaelangelica]

Sorry,
I can't check video as I have a slow 'dial up' service.
It is still not as slow as the Hypography search engine.

[orbsycli]

you cant see that video? its insane. the grasshopper hops to the edge of the water and then jumps in. the parasite aborts and it's like 10 times longer than the grasshopper. it kicks and fights and the worm slips into the water....its.....so.....sick

[CraigD]

Spinochordodes tellinii worm’s trick of merely hitching a ride back to its watery breeding environment in an infected grasshopper (according to a few sources I checked, the precise mechanism of this is not known) seems to me crude in comparison to Dicrocoelium dendriticum liver fluke, which begins in the liver of a sheep, makes its way by sheep feces to a snail, then by snail excretion to ants, where they actually infect the nervous system of the ant and steer it to the top of a blade of grass, where it is eaten by a sheep, restarting the cycle.

Less nasty looking than the worm’s grasshopper trick, considering the liver fluke actually takes control of the ant’s motor nerves, and will keep doing it day after day, carefully avoiding killing the ant until it’s eaten by a sheep, it’s much creepier.

[orbsycli]

someone else just pointed that out in another thread! much creepier indeed!

[Biomajor]

Whoa!