Are these nematodes? (pics)

[Draiman]

Opened up a cricket from a bag I just bought and saw this. It seems every cricket in this country is infected with these scum.

 

[dehaani]

Looks like it Gavin. Do they wriggle around?

Check this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiHtUFuGgSA

Apparently, this guy is having cockroach innards wiped on his face. When the liquid starts to evaporate, nematodes start wriggling, giving the appearance that they are coming out of his skin.

I'd start a roach colony if I were you.

Does anyone know if it's possible for nematodes to live in your pet long term without killing it? If so, what causes them to overwhelm their host at times?

 

[Draiman]

Looks like it Gavin. Do they wriggle around?

Check this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiHtUFuGgSA

Apparently, this guy is having cockroach innards wiped on his face. When the liquid starts to evaporate, nematodes start wriggling, giving the appearance that they are coming out of his skin.

I'd start a roach colony if I were you.

Does anyone know if it's possible for nematodes to live in your pet long term without killing it? If so, what causes them to overwhelm their host at times?

Reading what you said above in bold, I will certainly not be watching that video. Roaches freak me out (traumatic experience as a kid).

Anyway, they were too small to see any movement. And I can't get roaches here.

 

[Draiman]

Because of all the unhealthy invertebrate feeders going around, I've resorted to using frogs as a temporary solution. These are horrible pics, taken through the plastic of a KK.

 

[treeweta]

i dont see any nematodes, i see trachea (the 'breathing tubes').

seriously, that white mass of tubes is the crickets breathing system, its NOT nematodes.

interestingly i did find a very sluggish katydid/bushcricket last summer on our lawn, a Neoconocephalus sp. I guessed it was infected by worms, her abdomen was hard and misshapen, i froze her, opened her up and the entire abdomen was full of worms, there were about 30 of them upto 5 inches long, they looked very different from the trachea that were left in the insect.

 

[miarachnids]

I agree they are not nematodes.

 

[Draiman]

Are you sure? I believe everyone can see the individual white wormy things.

 

[Endagr8]

interestingly i did find a very sluggish katydid/bushcricket last summer on our lawn, a Neoconocephalus sp. I guessed it was infected by worms, her abdomen was hard and misshapen, i froze her, opened her up and the entire abdomen was full of worms, there were about 30 of them upto 5 inches long, they looked very different from the trachea that were left in the insect.

I believe those were pinworms.

 

[treeweta]

Are you sure? I believe everyone can see the individual white wormy things.

nematodes if removed will be individual worms with a distinct form, try tweaking out these white masses, you wont be able to discerm individual entities as such, just a lot of ragged damaged tubes, if they are trachea. note the large thick trachea at the bottom of the bag like piece, these branch into the smaller ones you see, trachea have an almost silvery appearence.

 

[Draiman]

nematodes if removed will be individual worms with a distinct form, try tweaking out these white masses, you wont be able to discerm individual entities as such, just a lot of ragged damaged tubes, if they are trachea. note the large thick trachea at the bottom of the bag like piece, these branch into the smaller ones you see, trachea have an almost silvery appearence.

I still can't help being worried. Should I keep or dump that bag of crickets? Surely there is a possibility they are nematodes, and not mere trachea?

 

[DFox]

I think maybe this whole nematodes thing has gotten a little overblown. It's definitely good to be cautious but if the store you bought the crickets from doesn't have a bunch of nematode infected herps/inverts, chances are their crickets are clean. Little bit of common sense goes a long way.

 

[Draiman]

I think maybe this whole nematodes thing has gotten a little overblown. It's definitely good to be cautious but if the store you bought the crickets from doesn't have a bunch of nematode infected herps/inverts, chances are their crickets are clean. Little bit of common sense goes a long way.

Yeah, I'm not known for having too much common sense.

The store I got these crickets from sell them to people who feed them to fish.

 

[treeweta]

I still can't help being worried. Should I keep or dump that bag of crickets? Surely there is a possibility they are nematodes, and not mere trachea?

theres always a possibilitty of nematodes of course but there arent any on that photo, ive personally dissected dozens of orthopteran insects and i can say that they all have excatly what you are seeing there, I will stick my neck out and say theres NO evidence of worms in that shot.

 

[Draiman]

theres always a possibilitty of nematodes of course but there arent any on that photo, ive personally dissected dozens of orthopteran insects and i can say that they all have excatly what you are seeing there, I will stick my neck out and say theres NO evidence of worms in that shot.

Fair enough. What if you were in my shoes? Would you still use the crickets?

 

[kalvaer]

Might be slightly OT, but how do the Nematodes infect the spiders (Also guess I am going to be told to use the search function, which I will do anyway and also search more but none the less)

My reason for asking is that I am currently going through the tarantula keepers guide and remember reading that the mouth is designed to pretty much filter out microscopic particles. Is it during the filtering process that they infect them or what?

 

[Bill S]

I think maybe this whole nematodes thing has gotten a little overblown.

Yes, it has. People are starting to see nematodes in every moist, white mass. The same thing happens with mites - much of what is diagnosed as mite infestations are harmless collembola or other non-mites. If people would actually take the time and effort to get specimens identified by knowledgeable people, most of the reported infestations would vanish. And in most situations, there are vets, universities or other resources available to the people that would be far more reliable than the misidentifications, superstitions and myths they'll get on the internet.

 

[Bill S]

Might be slightly OT, but how do the Nematodes infect the spiders (Also guess I am going to be told to use the search function, which I will do anyway and also search more but none the less)

My reason for asking is that I am currently going the the tarantula keepers guide and remember reading that the mouth is designed to pretty much filter out microscopic particles. Is it during the filtering process that they infect them or what?

You make a very good point. Parasites of any sort have specific life cycles and means of spreading to a new host. If that cycle isn't followed, there is no spreading to hosts. And in all these discussions, I have not seen anyone address the issue of parasitic nematode life cycles or distribution mechanisms.

 

[Draiman]

Yes, it has. People are starting to see nematodes in every moist, white mass. The same thing happens with mites - much of what is diagnosed as mite infestations are harmless collembola or other non-mites. If people would actually take the time and effort to get specimens identified by knowledgeable people, most of the reported infestations would vanish. And in most situations, there are vets, univerisities or other resources available to the people that would be far more reliable than the misidentifications, superstitions and myths they'll get on the internet.

Did I start the thread with "ZOMG! I'VE GOT NEMATODES!!11!!!1"? I don't think I did. I started this thread to ask about the presence of nematodes, not to state so.

You make a very good point. Parasites of any sort have specific life cycles and means of spreading to a new host. If that cycle isn't followed, there is no spreading to hosts. And in all these discussions, I have not seen anyone address the issue of parasitic nematode life cycles or distribution mechanisms.

They can enter the spider via the booklungs.

 

[DrAce]

Fair enough. What if you were in my shoes? Would you still use the crickets?

Yes. That looks like cricket guts to me. Could even be some nephritic tubules in there too...

 

[Draiman]

Yes. That looks like cricket guts to me. Could even be some nephritic tubules in there too...

Excuse my overwhelming ignorance, but what are those?