Zombie generator: do hairworms pose a danger to the lives of people and animals? (5 photos + 1 video)

There are a lot of horror stories associated with swimming in reservoirs: carnivorous leeches click their teeth, multi-meter catfish drag divers under the water, and the spirits of long-dead drowned people demand victims.





But there is one pretty real horror story. And many have encountered its object. We're talking about nematomorphs. More precisely, about one of the typical representatives of this group of invertebrate parasites. The water worm or hairworm is popularly known as horsehair - it is very thin (up to 5 mm) and long (up to 40 cm).



The hairworm is found almost everywhere in freshwater bodies. One individual is capable of laying an insane number of eggs, up to 10 million. Larvae develop within them within 2-4 weeks, which then look for a captive carrier. Slowly moving along the bottom, the larvae find a host. A variety of insects act in this capacity: crickets, grasshoppers, ground beetles, beetles, dragonflies. And here the real game begins: for several weeks the larvae parasitize inside, feeding at the expense of the donor and growing into an adult. And then they force the donor to literally commit suicide! Drown yourself by manipulating the behavior of an insect. The worm senses the proximity of water and begins to actively move towards freedom, completing what it started. Everything takes from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.

What about people?





What is noteworthy is that only larvae lead a parasitic lifestyle. Adults lack a digestive system. And it makes no sense to take someone as a slave for the purpose of eating them. However, there is a popular story that creepy horsehair can gnaw through your heel while swimming in a lake or pond. And start eating the unfortunate bather from the inside.



Theoretically, there is a possibility of hairworms entering the body. Persistence, that is, slow development, is possible after the larva enters the human body with water or when eating infected fish or insects. But things simply won’t go further - horsehair is not strong enough for such a carrier.



And all such cases are considered exclusively as pseudo-parasitism. But the hairworm has much more dangerous imitators. For example, the guinea worm and dirofilaria. True, the first lives mainly in the countries of Africa and Asia. And dirofilaria occurs in our country. Therefore, in order not to become like the unfortunate crickets, which the hairy creatures turn into obedient zombies, it is better not to swim in unfamiliar places, but to follow basic safety rules in familiar places.

Do you have any unpleasant memories associated with relaxing by a pond?