Gordian worms live inside crickets. Once fully grown, they inject chemicals into the cricket’s brain, brainwashing it and forcing it to kill itself by jumping into water. Once in water, the worm wriggles out of the writhing body and swims off in search of a mate.
[Thanks: JD]
Jason Fried wrote this on Jul 14 2008
There are39 comments.
Similar story with a type of parasite that lives in mice. This particular parasite can only reproduce inside the stomach of cats. So it manipulates the brains of mice to no longer be scared of cats, but attracted instead. Once the host (mice) are eaten, the parasite can reproduce. Oh the circle of life…
Oli
on 14 Jul 08
If you think that’s bad for crickets, look at this under the “Mental Manipulation” section, bad for rats and not too good for humans either!
reminds me a bit of that one worm we get around this part of the woods – africa – kids get infested with the larvae when they play in polluted water – the larvae gets in through the foot/ankle then grows/makes it way all the way up to the leg till the groin area at which stage it becomes more detectable. it becomes up to a meter long – what’s that, 3 feet?
think that’s rough?
the extraction method is locating the worm and then ‘winding it up’ with a matchstick – basically extracting it as slow as possible to make sure it doesn’t break off. they can only remove a little bit at a time so this process takes weeks to complete..
imagine what that feels like.
(it’s the guinea worm if you want to google it. my story above is as i’ve heard it – not 100% medical fact but good enough to pass along.)
It is we who are the parasites! Gobbling up our host, but with no cycle of recovery. Actually, maybe Agent Smith was more accurate—we’re a cancer! Yes, Nature is amazing. Let’s destroy it. hooaahahaah….
Should have been the inspiration for Night Shyamalan’s last movie…
Lou
on 14 Jul 08
I watched an episode of “The Most Extreme” where the Ribeoria parasite was the #1 transformer.
1. Starts as an egg in a predator.
2. Predator poops out the parasite.
3. Snail eats the poop/parasite, then poops it out.
4. Tadpole eats the parasite.
5. Tadpole becomes frog.
6. Parasite alters the frog DNA to make the frog grow a crippling number of extra limbs.
7. Predator eats frog/parasite.
8. Repeat.
yeah. i’ve got the shivvers now, and I don’t think it is because of the air conditioning. so, thanks for sharing…. Did you see the episode of “House” where he pulls a 20-foot long tape worm out of some girl’s stomach? (http://tinyurl.com/65×52x) more shivvers….
To add a little bit of reality here, the worm does not “brainwash the cricket”. The worm can however exit its dead host. Someone had been watching too much xfiles and sci fi channel.
david: ‘brainwash it’ = ‘influence it’, doesn’t it? the worm influences the cricket to try out a certain course of action, which it does to it’s own detriment, and the worm’s benefit.
brainwash 101.
ali: i saw a nature segment recently on plants that want to commit suicide (long story). they release a certain chemical, this attracts insects, the insects feed on the plant and kills it. i’m guessing the ‘brainwashing’ bit follows a similar logic – chemical influences to try out new things… ;)
That worm is not unlike the tv ad that tricked me into buying a case of Budweiser earlier today.
This discussion is closed.
About Jason Fried
Jason co-founded Basecamp back in 1999. He also co-authored REWORK, the New York Times bestselling book on running a "right-sized" business. Co-founded, co-authored... Can he do anything on his own?
Marcel Molina
on 14 Jul 08That worm is HUGE. That’s amazing but also the stuff of nightmares.
Erik
on 14 Jul 08Holy hell that is creepy.
Anonymous Coward
on 14 Jul 08Thanks a lot. The next time I feel like swimming, I’ll wonder if I am host to brainwashing worms.
Mike Larkin
on 14 Jul 08Wow…that really creeps me out! Growing up, we’d find dead crickets in the pool ALL THE TIME.
Alex
on 14 Jul 08That worm is unbelievably long
Mike
on 14 Jul 08I could have gone all day without seeing that.
Alexey
on 14 Jul 08OMG! Good reason to wear tight swimming trunks :)
Sebhelyesfarku
on 14 Jul 08So crickets are like Maczealots?
Edward
on 14 Jul 08Sick! Is it just me or does it look like the mass of the worm is greater than the mass of the cricket?
Sam Brown
on 14 Jul 08Nature 1 – My Swimming Pool; Empty
Drew
on 14 Jul 08Don’t tell M. Night Shyamalan or he’ll run off and make a terrible movie about it… except in his rendition the crickets WILL BE PEOPLE!
Jake
on 14 Jul 08@ Drew
Actually his twist would be the WORMS ARE PEOPLE!!!
Vincent Theeten
on 14 Jul 08Similar story with a type of parasite that lives in mice. This particular parasite can only reproduce inside the stomach of cats. So it manipulates the brains of mice to no longer be scared of cats, but attracted instead. Once the host (mice) are eaten, the parasite can reproduce. Oh the circle of life…
Oli
on 14 Jul 08If you think that’s bad for crickets, look at this under the “Mental Manipulation” section, bad for rats and not too good for humans either!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3287733.stm
Frank
on 14 Jul 08I echo everyone else’s sentiments: where the heck was that worm hiding inside the cricket?
Mike Larkin
on 14 Jul 08Yet another parasite…
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/8341/
Sage
on 14 Jul 08Carl Zimmer’s Parasite Rex is full of parasites like these. Great, great book (and no, no affiliation at all – I’m just a bit of a biology geek).
Marcos Kuhns
on 14 Jul 08There are parasitic fungi too that I learned about via the BBC’s Planet Earth series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3t4v8PmY_Q
Also of interest, at the end of the clip they talk about one advantage of this type of parasite ecological balance.
@Oli: a very interesting article!
Gavin Joyce
on 14 Jul 08Dan Dennett gave a fascinating talk on dangerous memes:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_dennett_on_dangerous_memes.html
Somewhat related to this.
Jan Tallent
on 14 Jul 08oh, this is awful, ugh! Bad enough the things we CAN see in the water! eek!
Zack
on 14 Jul 08@Anonymous Coward: Hahaha.
Yeah, this shit is terrible.
DjD
on 14 Jul 08Nature is freakin scary is what the title should read after seeing that!
cubiclegrrl
on 14 Jul 08The “Intelligent Designer” certainly has a nasty sense of humor…
Randy Kopplin
on 14 Jul 08So how do you know the worm brainwashes the cricket? Maybe this is the whole master plan anyway.
alan
on 14 Jul 08reminds me a bit of that one worm we get around this part of the woods – africa – kids get infested with the larvae when they play in polluted water – the larvae gets in through the foot/ankle then grows/makes it way all the way up to the leg till the groin area at which stage it becomes more detectable. it becomes up to a meter long – what’s that, 3 feet?
think that’s rough?
the extraction method is locating the worm and then ‘winding it up’ with a matchstick – basically extracting it as slow as possible to make sure it doesn’t break off. they can only remove a little bit at a time so this process takes weeks to complete..
imagine what that feels like.
(it’s the guinea worm if you want to google it. my story above is as i’ve heard it – not 100% medical fact but good enough to pass along.)
see what time says about it.
GeorgeM
on 14 Jul 08It is we who are the parasites! Gobbling up our host, but with no cycle of recovery. Actually, maybe Agent Smith was more accurate—we’re a cancer! Yes, Nature is amazing. Let’s destroy it. hooaahahaah….
yann
on 14 Jul 08Should have been the inspiration for Night Shyamalan’s last movie…
Lou
on 14 Jul 08I watched an episode of “The Most Extreme” where the Ribeoria parasite was the #1 transformer.
1. Starts as an egg in a predator. 2. Predator poops out the parasite. 3. Snail eats the poop/parasite, then poops it out. 4. Tadpole eats the parasite. 5. Tadpole becomes frog. 6. Parasite alters the frog DNA to make the frog grow a crippling number of extra limbs. 7. Predator eats frog/parasite. 8. Repeat.
Phil McThomas
on 15 Jul 08Lordy! I just had a 2girls1cup moment!
HondaGrrl
on 15 Jul 08yeah. i’ve got the shivvers now, and I don’t think it is because of the air conditioning. so, thanks for sharing…. Did you see the episode of “House” where he pulls a 20-foot long tape worm out of some girl’s stomach? (http://tinyurl.com/65×52x) more shivvers….
Danny Hope
on 15 Jul 08Dan Dennett talks about Lancet Fluke (Dicrocoelium lanceolatum) in this this video (near the beginning):
http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/dan_dennett.html
They have evolved a similar behaviour.
David
on 15 Jul 08To add a little bit of reality here, the worm does not “brainwash the cricket”. The worm can however exit its dead host. Someone had been watching too much xfiles and sci fi channel.
Ali
on 15 Jul 08I love nature, things like this are amazing. I wonder how the worm brainwashes the cricket.
alan
on 15 Jul 08david: ‘brainwash it’ = ‘influence it’, doesn’t it? the worm influences the cricket to try out a certain course of action, which it does to it’s own detriment, and the worm’s benefit.
brainwash 101.
ali: i saw a nature segment recently on plants that want to commit suicide (long story). they release a certain chemical, this attracts insects, the insects feed on the plant and kills it. i’m guessing the ‘brainwashing’ bit follows a similar logic – chemical influences to try out new things… ;)
Shaggy
on 15 Jul 08worms are evil!
Christian decker
on 16 Jul 08I was about to go to sleep, but now I’m rethinking about that…
JD
on 16 Jul 08How did you find such an interesting article? You should share your sources with us - your adoring fans - so we can find awesome info like this, too.
mr.negative
on 16 Jul 08Reminds me of my ex.
Ben Unsworth
on 18 Jul 08That worm is not unlike the tv ad that tricked me into buying a case of Budweiser earlier today.
This discussion is closed.