Sounds like something from a bad science fiction movie on the SciFi channel. The parasitic hairworm, Spinochordodes tellini, develops inside grasshoppers or crickets, but is an aquatic worm in its adult stage. How to get from the grasshopper gut to body water, you ask? Brainwash the grasshopper into committing suicide.
The hairworm produces proteins that interfere with the grasshopper’s nervous system. These proteins mimic certain molecules of the grasshopper. The researchers found that grasshoppers carrying the worm expressed different proteins in the brain than uninfected grasshoppers and that some of these proteins were linked to neurotransmitter activities.
Crazy and creepy.
Ewww. That reminds me of that old fantasy movie, Beastmaster, where they put the worms in people’s ears (that part always squicked me out) in order to control them.
This hairworm would make a great premise for an X-File! (sigh) I miss the X-Files….
Amazing.
Cindy, you have way way too much time on your hands. Maybe you could go help your dad sell peanuts or something.
So revolting and wicked. Do you think the army is studying those worms right now, and trying to learn mind-control from them?