The Blaze is reporting about a video that was released that shows a toxic brain controlling worm which escapes the body of a dying praying mantis. The worm is believed to be a Nematomorpha.
If so, and it seems to be right, what you are about to read is arguably more horrific than what you just saw. Nematomorph hairworms don’t just colonize the belly of their hosts, they take over their brains as well. The hairworm makes grasshoppers jump into water – fatal for the grasshopper but a great move for the parasite as they need water to reproduce.
Such worms can grow to two meters long, although 50cm-1meter is more common. The adults live freely in water, but the larvae are parasitic on various insects and crustaceans. They are known to tie themselves in knots, leading to the nickname Gordian worms.
Although Nematomorpha don’t infest mammals that doesn’t mean you are off the hook nightmare-wise. Their capacity to control the brains of their victims has added support to the theory that Toxoplasma gondii, a single celled protozoa that reproduces in the intestines of cats may make those its hosts more reckless, possibly including humans.
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