Horsehair Worm

Adults are free-living in freshwater environments like puddles, troughs, streams, and wet soil. Larvae are parasitic inside terrestrial arthropods.

Adults do not feed; they rely on stored energy. Larvae absorb nutrients directly through their skin while inside their insect hosts.

Larvae parasitize insects like crickets, cockroaches, and grasshoppers. Upon maturing, they manipulate the host's behavior to seek water, where the worm bursts out to breed.

They pose no risk to humans, pets, or plants. They are beneficial as they help control populations of pest insects like crickets and cockroaches.