The adult Horsehair worms mate in the small puddles in the cavern. The female lays eggs in the water. The eggs have a coating on them. Then a cricket or other insect comes along and innocently drinks the water and swallows an egg. The cricket hops away to enjoy life in the darkness of the cavern. Meanwhile, the egg gestates and enzymes in the cricket's stomach eat away at the coating around the egg. The egg "hatches" and the baby Horsehair worm eats its way out of the unsuspecting host.
Lesson Learned? Don't drink the water in a cave.
Eeuww,gross. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAin't Mother Nature creative and complex?