|
|
Post by bichos on Sept 11, 2012 5:35:45 GMT -8
I had a pet cricket for some time and one day he died  No surprises there as I am told that EVERYTHING dies. I did not clean out his house, whcih was filled with coco peat about 2 inches deep. So over the weekend I went to empty it out and I noticed this thing sitting on the surface of the sunstrate waving its head end in the air  I'm guessing its the head end cos it moves. Naturallly I fraked out and imagined all the different parasites that could infect me and my loved ones. The cricket was only about an inch long and this thing is not soft like a worm it is rigid and wire like and on the head end it seems to have an EYE. What the hell is it? I have seen them before whilst light trapping in the jungle, just not in my home. A fellow collector once introduced me to them, he said "come here most of them have these" and he grabed this seemingly healthy Katydid (orhtopteran) and pinched it, seconds later out comes this alien...    just imagine what the human equivalent to this would look like  |
|
|
|
|
|
Post by lucanidae25 on Sept 11, 2012 5:47:27 GMT -8
I've seen them inside praying mantis, full of them.... all alive |
|
|
|
Post by nosorog on Sept 11, 2012 6:55:59 GMT -8
OMG. How did it fit inside an inch-long cricket?!
Pet bugs, matryoshka style.
Practical questions. I saw ectoparasites (beetle ticks) die in ethyl acetate. How about parasitic worms?
|
|
|
|
Post by lepidofrance on Sept 11, 2012 9:40:55 GMT -8
We saw a such worm like that (about 20 cm) merging from a single grasshopper in French Guyana. It was Spinochordodes tellini (nematomorph) Here is short video showing this same worm (Patawa, november 2011, French Guyane) : "The nematomorphs or Gordian, are a group of parasitic worms of about 300 species widely distributed around the world. The larval stage nematomorphs are internal parasites of terrestrial arthropods as Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers)." From the website : www.ird.fr/la-mediatheque/videos-en-ligne-canal-ird/un-parasite-manipulateur/un-parasite-manipulateurOn the same page, an interesting video showing how the Gordian enforce the cricket to commit suicide in water ... Astonishing !! Attachments:
|
|
ckswank
Full Member
Posts: 239
Country: USA
|
Post by ckswank on Sept 11, 2012 13:19:56 GMT -8
I've also seen one of these emerge from a dying cricket years ago when I lived in Illinois. I know what you mean about being creepy!
Charlie
|
|
|
|
Post by timoinsects on Sept 11, 2012 13:59:19 GMT -8
i once found white nematomorph in very pure water pool in Tibet 2300m aside a stream,in the begining just one was found and i thought maybe he lost his way and fell into water,but later on more nematomorphs were found in water. that was a damn thing because the very beautiful pure water pool was spoiled. so i didn't touch the water though it was hot at noon. i regreated i did not took a camera when i was there. so i think the nematomorph not only live inside creatures but also live independentlly??? |
|
|
|
|
|
Post by lepidofrance on Sept 12, 2012 1:05:24 GMT -8
From the page : www.ird.fr/la-mediatheque/videos-en-ligne-canal-ird/un-parasite-manipulateur/un-parasite-manipulateur"The nematomorphs or Gordian, are a group of parasitic worms of about 300 species widely distributed around the world. The larval stage nematomorphs are internal parasites of terrestrial arthropods as Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers). In the adult stage they are free and inhabit water in the streams and rivers. At the end of their development, they reach a considerable size relative to their host and then must necessarily reach the aquatic environment for reproduction. Researchers OPM group showed that these parasites manipulating the behavior of insect hosts (at least 9 species of Orthoptera) requiring them to "commit suicide" by jumping into the water. |
|
|
|
Post by bichos on Sept 16, 2012 4:15:16 GMT -8
From the page : www.ird.fr/la-mediatheque/videos-en-ligne-canal-ird/un-parasite-manipulateur/un-parasite-manipulateur"The nematomorphs or Gordian, are a group of parasitic worms of about 300 species widely distributed around the world. The larval stage nematomorphs are internal parasites of terrestrial arthropods as Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers). In the adult stage they are free and inhabit water in the streams and rivers. At the end of their development, they reach a considerable size relative to their host and then must necessarily reach the aquatic environment for reproduction. Researchers OPM group showed that these parasites manipulating the behavior of insect hosts (at least 9 species of Orthoptera) requiring them to "commit suicide" by jumping into the water. Thank you very much, it answers most of my questions. |
|
|
|
Post by saturniidave on Sept 16, 2012 15:39:32 GMT -8
But how do they get in the crickets in the first place?
|
|
|
|
Post by lepidofrance on Sept 16, 2012 23:50:41 GMT -8
"But how do they get in the crickets in the first place?"  Reproductively, they are dioecious, with the internal fertilization of eggs that are then laid in gelatinous strings. Adults have cylindrical gonads, opening into the cloaca. The larvae have rings of cuticular hooks and terminal stylets that are believed to be used to enter the hosts. Once inside the host, the larvae live inside the haemocoel and absorb nutrients directly through their skin. Development into the adult form takes weeks or months, and the larva moults several times as it grows in size. The adults are mostly free living in freshwater or marine environments, and males and females aggregate into tight balls (Gordian knots) during mating. Quoted from : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematomorpha |
|
|
|
Post by saturniidave on Sept 17, 2012 15:24:38 GMT -8
Very interesting, but it still does not clarify how the eggs get from a freshwater stream to inside a cricket.
|
|
|
|
Post by ambrysus on Sept 18, 2012 0:41:14 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by saturniidave on Sept 18, 2012 15:27:31 GMT -8
Many thanks, fascinating paper.
|
|
|
|
Post by lucanidae25 on Sept 29, 2012 14:51:53 GMT -8
Found the name in Queensland museum. Chordodes sp Attachments:
|
|
I'm guessing its the head end cos it moves.
