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Horsehair Worms
Greetings!

It is fairly common to encounter horsehair worms around a pond or stream. Horsehair worms are 1/25 to 1/16 inch in diameter and may be over three feet long. Their color ranges from yellowish to brownish- black. Although they look frightening, they are no danger to man.

Adults are free-living in water for up to six months and do not eat at all. Females lay strings of up to 27 million eggs. The next part of their life cycle is not well understood. After the eggs hatch, the larvae may stay in the water or may form cysts on plants around the water’s edge. Microscopic larvae get swallowed by an insect like a cricket, grasshopper, etc. The larvae then bore through the intestine and become parasites. When the host insect dies, the adult horsehair worm will leave. By some unknown mechanism, it seems the worms get the host to seek out water just prior to this.

Horsehair worms get their name from the mistaken belief that hair from horses falling into water troughs mysteriously came to life. Another name for these creatures is Gordian worms. This name comes from the fact that sometimes 100 or more worms will often ball up and appear to tie themselves in a knot. In Greek mythology, Gordius, the king of Phrygia, around 330 B.C. used an intricate knot to tie a chariot to a pole. Whoever untied the knot would be declared the ruler of all Asia. Rather than untying the knot, Alexander the Great cut it with his sword.

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Sincerely,


Bill Kelley, Vice President of Marketing
Dunn's Fish Farms

phone: (800) 433-2950