Horsehair Worm

Found in damp environments, puddles, pools, streams, and cisterns; larvae are internal parasites of insects.

Larvae are parasites that absorb nutrients from the body cavity of hosts like crickets and grasshoppers; adults do not eat.

Adults are free-living in water and often knot themselves together (Gordian knots) during mating. They manipulate the host's behavior to seek water once the worm is ready to emerge.

Harmless to humans, livestock, and plants. They are considered beneficial to ecosystems as they help control populations of insects like crickets and beetles.