Video of Spinochordodes tellinii, in which it causes a cricket to drown and then emerges from it.Poinar G Jr, Weissman DB (2004) Hairworm and nematode infections of North American Jerusalem crickets, field crickets, and katydids (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae, Gryllidae and Tettigoniidae). Data related to Spinochordodes tellinii at Wikispecies. "Host–parasite relations and seasonal occurrence of Paragordius tricuspidatus and Spinochordodes tellinii (Nematomorpha) in Southern France". Biron Cécile Joly & Frédéric Thomas (2005). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. "Behavioural manipulation in a grasshopper harbouring hairworm: a proteomics approach". "Do hairworms (Nematomorpha) manipulate the water seeking behaviour of their terrestrial hosts?". "Parasites brainwash grasshoppers into death dive". Ī similar parasitic worm is Paragordius tricuspidatus. Furthermore, it appears that the parasite produces proteins from the Wnt family that act directly on the development of the central nervous system and are similar to proteins known from other insects, suggesting an instance of molecular mimicry. Some of these proteins have been linked to neurotransmitter activity, others to geotactic activity, or the body's response to changes in gravity. A study in 2005 indicated that grasshoppers which contain the parasite express, or create, different proteins in their brains compared to uninfected grasshoppers. The precise molecular mechanism underlying the modification of the host's behaviour is not yet known. 
The microscopic larvae are ingested by their insect hosts and develop inside them into worms that can be three to four times longer than the host.
tellinii does not influence its host to actively seek water over large distances, but only when it is already close to water. The parasite then leaves its host the adult worm lives and reproduces in water. This parasite is able to influence its host's behavior: once the parasite is grown, it causes its grasshopper host to jump into water, where the grasshopper will likely drown. Spinochordodes tellinii is a parasitic nematomorph hairworm whose larvae develop in grasshoppers and crickets.
0 kommentar(er)
