r/interesting • u/InTheSky57 • Aug 04 '26

NATURE Parasite flees a mantis when hit with water

25.0k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

46

u/highfiveselfoh Aug 04 '26

So the grasshopper could potentially live like normal after this?

10

u/Nefertete Aug 04 '26

that's a mantis

2

u/highfiveselfoh Aug 04 '26

Lmaoooooo I knew that. I know that. I’m not dumb just special sometimes

28

u/Not_so_ghetto Aug 04 '26

Yep

25

u/LocalDude_ Aug 04 '26

So it's not dead? Some comments were saying it was already long gone. How can the mantis live normally if the parasite has already invaded its nervous system and occupied so much space inside its body?

26

u/Hexamancer Aug 04 '26

It hasn't "invaded" the nervous system, the worm is excreting proteins that alter the nervous system, that process doesn't cause any damage.

It's the worm bursting out that often causes death.

34

u/tremere110 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

It doesn't really occupy a lot of space despite it's size. Horsehair worms can compress themselves like a spring and just push organs out of the way. They absorb nutrients through their skin from insect "blood". When the worm leaves, the host returns to it's normal size - it's now missing a lot of its energy stores and will likely die but not always.

The nervous system effects are temporary and only while the worm is trying to escape.

3

u/highfiveselfoh Aug 04 '26

I would disagree on size. The parasite is as thick as its legs. I feel like sizing up to a human it’s like sticking a golf club in your body. Or is the worm coming from the boooty hole? Then I can see this working.

4

u/Reikukaja Aug 05 '26

like sticking a golf club in your body

bootyhole

i can see this working

...what a cursed series of sentences. 😂

3

u/DTux5249 Aug 04 '26

Isn't there a major rupture in its abdomen though?

7

u/tremere110 Aug 04 '26

It's a wound that can heal if the host is hardy enough, but probably not in most cases.

2

u/xXInfXx Aug 05 '26

Nah, it's most likely not dead.

It's standing (mostly) upright on the stick drying off and recovering after being waterboarded.

Horsehair worms tend to hide in the flesh and mess with the brain chemistry of the insects. Basically, waterboarding the mantis relieved it of its tummy ache and its Schizophrenia.

1

u/Bitter-Plenty-5303 Aug 04 '26

No trauma?

1

u/highfiveselfoh Aug 04 '26

He has to see a therapist every day now :/

3

u/YearHaunting1504 Aug 04 '26

Uh, so people who eat grasshoppers are, um, eating the worm, too?