Horsehair Worm (also known as Gordian Worm)

Adults live in freshwater environments like puddles, troughs, streams, and wet soil. Can occasionally be found indoors near water sources (sinks, toilets) or on damp textiles.

Adults do not eat. The larvae are parasitic, feeding on the internal fluids of insects like crickets, grasshoppers, and cockroaches.

Known for their parasitic lifecycle where larvae infect insects and manipulate the host's behavior to seek water; adult worms emerge from the host upon contact with water to breed.

They are harmless to humans, pets, and plants as they cannot parasitize mammals. They are considered beneficial as they help control populations of pest insects like roaches and grasshoppers.