Delicious Treats for Opossums: Worms and Crickets

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How Things Look on Instagram: "A horsehair worm is a long, thin parasite that spends part of its life inside insects such as crickets or praying mantises. When it reaches adulthood it no longer needs its host and seeks to return to water where it can reproduce. The dramatic part of this life cycle is when the worm finally leaves the insect’s body, often when the host is near a wet area. The exit looks shocking because the worm can be many times longer than the insect it lived inside. It wriggles

Interesting As Facts by Christopher Kiss on Instagram: "聯 Parasitic horror inside a mantis Praying mantises can fall victim to horsehair worms—parasitic worms that control their host’s behavior. These parasites develop inside the mantis and, when the insect touches water, the worm emerges, sometimes longer than the mantis itself. It’s nature’s real-life body snatcher."