Horsehair Worm Lifecycle

It is important to understand the horsehair worm lifecycle for most biologists and researchers in medical science, to determine it emergence and impact on human beings and other animals, plants, insects or birds. The horsehair worm lifecycle is quite interesting, and is generally similar to the other worms of the same species. To ensure proper growth and a complete lifecycle, these worms require a host to penetrate and parasitize. Read on to learn more about horsehair worm lifecycle.

Earlier stages in horsehair worm lifecycle

 

Horsehair worm lifecycle starts when the adult male and female mates in the damp soil or freshwater. These adult worms do not feed and live more than six months in mud, ponds or damp earth. The stages of a horsehair worm life start with the egg followed by the preparasitic larva, developing into a parasitic larva that breeds on an invertebrate host, and lastly, the adult free-living worms. During the earlier stages, the worms spend the winter season in the water and then mates in the spring. The horsehair worm lifecycle proceeds with the female worms laying a string of eggs in the water almost 12 to 24 inches long. After almost one month, the eggs hatch into preparasitic larva. These larvas have to parasitize the host invertebrates, especially the insects, to mature and develop in the horsehair worm lifecycle.

Horsehair Worm Lifecycle – The advanced stages of development

 

The horsehair worm lifecycle proceeds further with the preparasitic larva developing into matured parasitic larva by breeding on the invertebrate hosts. Generally, the parasitizing hosts of almost all species of horsehair worms includes large predaceous arthropods, especially beetles, dragonfly, cockroach or grasshopper, and sometimes on omnivores like millipedes, centipedes and cricket. There are various ways in which the larva parasitizes the hosts for their development. This stage is the most important part in the horsehair worm lifecycle. In some cases, the larva is itself ingested by the host, where it immediately matures into the parasitic stage and keeps on developing inside the host. In certain other cases, these larvae are ingested by tadpoles, mosquitoes, flies and other water-breeding animals and insects. In this stage, the larvae enclose themselves into a cyst, and continue its development into parasitic larvae. This is the most crucial stage in the horsehair worm lifecycle, and helps in complete growth and development of the larvae.

The Final Stage in Horsehair Worm Lifecycle

 

The horsehair worm lifecycle completes when the parasitic larvae, breeding on the invertebrate hosts develop into a matured adult worm. The preparasitic larvae that encyst on debris, water or leaves, are consumed by host insects or smaller animals, and grow into parasitic larvae. After 3 months from the parasitic stage in the horsehair worm lifecycle, the infected host is impelled to go out to the water. With the hosts contact to the water, the parasitic larvae develop into matured adult worms. These adult worms are free-living in nature, and live for months. The horsehair worm lifecycle repeats in the following spring season again.