Horsehair worm parasite found in wild Mantis

[Sizzlindynamite]

Found this mantis outside, she was so cute but unfortunately doomed upon further inspection she had been hijacked by a horsehair worm. Safe to say I cried a little when I put her back into the tree

 

[curtisgiganteus]

If you stick her abdomen in water (fully submerge it) the parasite should come out. It won’t save the mantid but it will keep her from continued suffering.

 

[Sizzlindynamite]

If you stick her abdomen in water (fully submerge it) the parasite should come out. It won’t save the mantid but it will keep her from continued suffering.

I did try the water thing but unfortunately didn’t have the heart to go through with it. It felt wrong trying to play god. But I did notice after putting her in the water the thing stopped poking out the side where it was and it appeared to look like a little gash which was weird. Someone else also mentioned it may not have been a horsehair worm (and I agree as it didn’t surface even after two minutes in water). There were some comments saying it could have been a parasitic maggot as it appeared to have a mouth in the video. So they were assuming maybe a wasp had gotten to her. I ended up letting her go back into the tree on the street.

 

[William Dawson]

That's too bad. I had one that I watched die, I still have no clue what happened. She seemed to have an infertile egg sac inside, but she had a spasming fit and died randomly one time, it was pretty shocking. It's sad that things like that happen, but there's not much to do about it.

 

[Sizzlindynamite]

I

That's too bad. I had one that I watched die, I still have no clue what happened. She seemed to have an infertile egg sac inside, but she had a spasming fit and died randomly one time, it was pretty shocking. It's sad that things like that happen, but there's not much to do about it.

i guess that’s why it was easier to just release her and not have to know the fate, although I knew it was bad, It was easier once I knew it was bad that I didn’t want to see it play out if I didn’t have to

 

[The Snark]

I developed a particular loathing of those worms. A constant threat to horses making us establish a regular regimen of cleaning and disinfecting watering troughs and regular regimens of prophylactic shots. Stables are parasite magnets.

 

[Isopods others]

Fascinating, do they only affect mantids?

 

[curtisgiganteus]

Fascinating, do they only affect mantids?

Nope, pretty much any invert is fair game. Eventually, the afflicted invert seeks out a body of water for the worms to reproduce in. Worm vacates the body of the insect that drowns itself all so the worms can reproduce. Then another insect comes along, drinks the water, and the cycle repeats itself.

 

[The Snark]

Fascinating, do they only affect mantids?

Eventually, the afflicted invert seeks out a body of water for the worms to reproduce in.

And they turn up in vertebrates. Undiagnosed they can be extremely problematic, causing unthriftiness and can considerably shorten an animals life span. The problem in mammals is these worms don't show up in the normal fecal tests. Only blood tests looking specifically for those worms will work.