Horsehair Worm

Found in clean, wet environments like puddles, troughs, streams, and damp soil; often seen after rain.

Adults do not eat; larvae are parasites that absorb nutrients from the body cavity of insect hosts like crickets and beetles.

Larvae develop inside insects; when mature, they manipulate the host to seek water. The worm then exits the host to mate in water, often seen twisting into knots (Gordian knots).

Harmless to humans, pets, and plants. Benefits the ecosystem by controlling populations of insects like grasshoppers and crickets.