Horsehair Worm

Freshwater environments like streams, ponds, and puddles; found globally

Larvae are parasites of insects (crickets, grasshoppers, beetles); adults do not eat and focus only on reproduction

They exhibit a parasitic life cycle where they manipulate their host's behavior to make it enter water, where the adult worm then emerges to mate

They are harmless to humans, pets, and plants; they provide ecosystem benefits by naturally controlling certain insect populations