Once consumed, the cyst dissolves and the larva is free to burrow into the stomach of the insect and begin maturation. The catch is that the larva is covered by a cyst, thus protecting them from dying upon consumption. And it is in this body of water that the egg hatches, releasing a microscopic larva that will then eventually be consumed by an insect. In fact, the eggs of the horsehair worms are laid in bodies of water. When they are not inside a host though, they prefer aquatic environments. To start with, horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) are parasites of invertebrates: mostly insects, though they have been known to take crustaceans as hosts as well. We can guess-fairly accurately-that the park provides habitat for numerous other strange invertebrate animals that are yet to be studied.Photo of Horsehair Worm from Previous Article They are fascinating, but rarely encountered. Horsehair worms have also been seen in the caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and in streams in the Guadalupe Mountains. Occasionally, they are found after a cricket or cockroach is killed by someone crushing the insect, at which time the worm begins to wiggle out of the insect's body. When mature, it leaves the host insect to start the process again.Įmergence from the host occurs only when the host is near water. There, it digests and absorbs the surrounding tissue. If the cyst is eaten by a suitable insect, the protective covering dissolves and the released larva bores through the gut wall and into the body cavity of the host. After the eggs hatch, scientists believe that each larva forms a protective covering or cyst. The adult 'worms' mate in water and females lay long gelatinous strings of eggs. These interesting creatures are not parasites of humans, livestock, or pets, and pose no public health threat. When mature, they leave the host to lay eggs. The immature stages are parasites in the bodies of grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, and some beetles. Horsehair worms are the aquatic adult phase of little-known invertebrate animals. A horsehair worm in the phylum Nematomorpha.

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