![]() North Dakota State University Extension Entomology. Macroscopic mimics of helminths in stool specimen examination. The Korean Journal of Parasitology 50(3), 263-67. Two human cases infected by the horsehair worm, Parachordodes sp.(Nematomorpha: Chordodidae), in Japan. A Gordius worm found in a three-year-old girl's vomitus. Horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) from the Baltic Island Bornholm (Denmark), with notes on the biology of Gordius albopunctatus. Considerations on the genus Gordius (Nematomorpha, horsehair worms), with the description of seven new species. Horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) as parasites of praying mantids with a discussion of their life cycle. Horsehair Worms, Hairworms, Gordian Worms, Nematomorphs, Gordius spp. Are the genera of Nematomorpha monophyletic taxa? Archived at the Wayback Machine Zoologica Scripta 31(2), 185-200. Systematic relationships of Nematomorpha based on molecular and morphological data. Diversity Īs of 2010 there are 79 species in the genus. Īdult worms, as in some other Nematomorpha genera, may squirm in a tangled ball resembling a Gordian Knot horsehair worms are also referred to as gordian worms. Horsehair worms are not considered pathogenic or parasitic on humans and their presence in the body is incidental. When present in the urine, the worm may have entered the urethra from the anus or while the victim was swimming in contaminated water. When worms are expelled from the gastrointestinal tract, their mode of entry was likely ingestion of contaminated food or water, or of an infested insect. Gordius worms have been recovered from human vomit, feces, and urine. It emerges as an adult worm in a few months. Once ingested by the insect the worm larva penetrates the gut wall and develops in a cyst in the tissue outside. Species have been observed in caddisfly and mosquito larvae. Other recorded hosts include mantids such as the European mantis ( Mantis religiosa) and Hierodula membranacea, Idolomantis diabolica, Sphodromantis viridis, and Stagmatoptera praecaria. Most Gordius worms are parasites of beetles. Upon emergence from the egg the larva swims about until it is consumed by a host insect. ![]() Juveniles require a host in which to complete their development. The female can produce a great many eggs, perhaps up to 27 million in its lifetime. A gelatinous string of eggs each about 50 micrometers long is released into the water. The adult overwinters in soil and debris and the female enters a water body such as a swamp or a stream to lay eggs. These worms can only live near water, because parts of their life cycle take place in it. A thorough taxonomy of the genus will require a scanning electron microscope. Most of these features are used in species identification, but are not very helpful, and it is difficult to tell species apart, in general. Some species have a smooth body surface, and some may be slightly bumpy with flattened areoles. At the posterior end there are tiny bristles, sometimes arranged in a row in front of the cloaca. ![]() At the front end of the body there is a white cap and a dark collar. Microscopic features include a diagnostic character of the family, both Gordius and genus Acutogordius, the postcloacal crescent of the male, a fold in the cuticle curving around the back side of the cloaca. Besides a blunt anterior end and a slightly widened posterior end, it is featureless to the naked eye. fulgur over two meters long, and may be only about one millimeter wide. It commonly grows over a meter long, with the record length held by a specimen of G. The genus is distributed worldwide except for Antarctica, where no Nematomorpha have been recorded. It was formerly treated as the only genus in the family Gordiidae, but the genus Acutogordius is now considered as distinct. Gordius is a genus of worms in the phylum Nematomorpha, the horsehair worms.
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