Hat tip to a profanely-named account that recirculated this viral video of the evident horrors that lurk within many a praying mantis. The alleged uncommon phenomenon depicted in the videos below is the result of a parasite known as a horsehair worm, which burrows itself into mantises and pilots them. We’re talking full-blown The Last of Us fungi-style takeovers. Or little Men in Black aliens inside the brains of other aliens, if you like.
Praying Manis lowered into water to entice out the parasite within! 🪱😱 video credit: Insect world. pic.twitter.com/R5zvLp6KsJ
— Pepe Meme (@PepeMeme_coin) February 23, 2023
I was today years old when I learned that Praying Mantises often carry these parasites. pic.twitter.com/ZgwOLgbnL1
— J4CK3T D3T4IL (@JacketNation) December 16, 2023
Somebody in the know provided further details on these parasitic worms, and damn, what vicious organisms these slithering demons are.
Hi so this is the horsehair worm, a host specific parasite for the praying mantis.
If this isn’t disgusting enough y’all should know that these worms affect their perception of horizontal light (think the light that’s reflected off water) which causes them to jump in and drown https://t.co/ji2Sy6lTjg
— assassin bug’s creed (@microgoeswild) February 24, 2023
If reincarnation is a thing, I really hope my soul isn’t trapped in a praying mantis. One of the only things I knew about mantises before this was the fact that, on certain occasions during mating, the female bites the head off the male. I don’t care who you are, what your kink is, or how much you want your partner’s freak to match your freak. Ain’t no guy on earth this side of Marilyn Manson who’d even consider getting down with somebody, only to be decapitated cannibal-style.
Being a mantis and dealing with that possibility during mating would be traumatic enough. But throw this horsehair worm parasite situation as a potential pitfall in the wild on top of that? Man, what a freaking life to lead. Nature can be a beautiful thing, yet it can also be a brutal, unforgiving, and rather bleak existence for some. Like praying mantises. As a hypothetical mantis, I’d be praying for a swift and painless death if I was avatar to a worm. Hopefully get to cast the die again on another form of reincarnation.
Not that the worm-mantis dynamic is quite the same as what’s described in The Last of Us, but figured I’d close this out with a thankfully-fictional clip of the show’s chilling opening scene.
