If missed class on Friday here are two videos you missed. Plus a bonus video at the end if you already saw these two.
The last video shows a horsehair worm (Nematomorpha) exiting from its host. The larvae live inside the insect and absorb nutrients directly through their skin. The adults are mostly free living in freshwater or marine environments
In Spinochordodes tellinii, which has grasshoppers and crickets as its larval host, the infection acts on the insect's brain and causes it to seek water and drown itself, thus returning the nematomorph to water. They are also able to survive the predation of their host, being able to wriggle out of the predator that has eaten the host! This manipulation of the host is documented here: Do hairworms (Nematomorpha) manipulate the water seeking behaviour of their terrestrial hosts?
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