Horsehair worm

Found in damp areas like soil, puddles, stream banks, and water troughs; adults are aquatic while larvae are internal parasites.

Larvae are internal parasites that absorb nutrients from the bodies of insects like crickets or grasshoppers; adults do not feed.

Larvae develop inside an insect host, eventually manipulating the host's behavior to seek water; once in water, the adult worm emerges to mate, often twisting into complex 'Gordian knots'.

Harmless to humans, pets, and plants; they provide an ecological benefit by naturally controlling populations of pest insects like crickets and cockroaches.