Incredible truth behind 'unsettling' find in woman's bathroom
An Aussie woman's strange find in her bathroom has led to a fascinating – and rather creepy – discovery that sounds like something straight out of a horror movie.
In central Victoria last week, the woman found a long, brown 'string' next to her bath that appeared to be moving. Curling up on itself, no apparent head or tail can be seen.
Next to the worm was a dead huntsman spider, and while it may not have seemed like an important detail at the time, advice from a local field naturalists Facebook page soon revealed the astounding relationship between the two creatures.
The worm is likely a parasitic worm – a mermithid nematode or horsehair worm – using the spider as a host, University of Queensland entomologist Dr Kayvan Etebari told Yahoo News.
As part of its gruesome lifecycle, the worms take over the host's body, literally eating it alive from the inside out.
"Inside the host, both mermithids and horsehair worms develop over time by absorbing nutrients from the internal fluids of the insect or spider. They do this in a way that allows the host to remain alive and active for most of the parasite's development," Dr Etebari said.
"This survival of the host is crucial to the worm's life cycle. The host continues its normal activities until the worm is ready to emerge, at which point it often kills or severely weakens the host in the process of exiting, usually near a moist environment."
The parasites typically infect crickets, beetles, cockroaches, grasshoppers and spiders and are – thankfully – not harmful to humans or pets. Birds and reptiles are also safe.
A similar case from the 90s, which was featured at the Australian Museum, involved another dead huntsman next to a coffee cup with a long writhing worm inside the leftover coffee.
You may have heard of cordyceps, a fungus that infects a host and alters its behaviour with often lethal consequences (it was the concept behind the popular zombie series The Last of Us). Dr Etebari noted some similarities between the two.
"Both types of parasites also exhibit a fascinating ability to manipulate the host's behaviour — most notably driving them to seek out water, which is essential for the worm's emergence and continued survival," he said.
"While the mechanism is not as well understood as in fungi like cordyceps, the manipulation is still notable. This behavioural change benefits the worm by ensuring it exits the host in a suitable habitat. Although Mermithids and horsehair worms are different taxonomically, their manipulation strategies are quite similar in outcome."
Mermithids and horsehair worms are most likely to be seen after rainfall or in damp areas where their insect hosts thrive.
If you happen to find one in your home, Dr Etebari insists there's no need to panic.
"The worm can be gently removed using a tissue or gloves and placed outside in a shady, damp area. They are harmless to humans and pets, cannot reproduce indoors, and won't infest your home. Seeing one may be a little unsettling, but it's a rare glimpse into a remarkable ecological interaction between parasites and their arthropod hosts," he said.
Interestingly, scientists are now using microscopic nematodes as an environmentally friendly pest management tool.
The worms seek out and infect pests in the soil, before releasing bacteria that kills the insect and allows the nematodes to reproduce.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Common Psychiatric Medications May Increase Risk of ALS
New research shows that people who take certain psychiatric medications may be more likely to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND). This study, which was led by a team from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, raises some important questions about the connections between psychiatric symptoms, ALS, and MND, and how they might be targeted for treatment. Anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, and antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed drugs for psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. In terms of increased ALS risk, it worked out as 34 percent, 21 percent, and 26 percent respectively for the three drug types. The increased risk is extremely small when taken in context with the low prevalence of ALS itself. Yet understanding these links could help improve our understanding of motor neurone disease and provide insights for specialists prescribing ways to treat common psychiatric disorders. "In this case-control study, prescribed use of anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, or antidepressants was associated with a higher subsequent risk of ALS," write the researchers in their published paper. "Prediagnostic use of such medications was also associated with a poor prognosis after ALS diagnosis." At the moment, there's no cure for the progressive debilitation that ALS causes, as parts of the nervous system break down – leading to paralysis and, eventually, respiratory failure. The team also identified a slight increase in rate of decline and risk of an earlier death among those diagnosed with ALS who had been exposed to one of a number of psychiatric medications. The researchers used national health data in Sweden to compare 1,057 people with ALS who had been diagnosed between 2015 and 2023 with more than 5,000 controls matched for age and sex who had no MND diagnosis. The researchers also accounted for genetic and environmental factors in their analysis, further backing up the idea that the increased risk of ALS was connected to the medication – or the reasons the medications were prescribed. The data isn't enough to show the drugs are directly causing the increase in ALS risk. It's also possible that other health-related factors are causing both the prescription of psychiatric medications, and the higher likelihood of an ALS diagnosis. "This study adds to growing evidence that individuals with psychiatric conditions may face an elevated risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS," says neuroscientist Susannah Tye, from the University of Queensland in Australia, who was not involved in the study. "However, the implication that psychiatric medications themselves contribute to this risk should be interpreted with caution." Given that previous research has found people with psychiatric disorders are also more at risk of developing ALS, these results may provide some much needed detail to the overall picture of how these different conditions, and their causes and treatments, fit together. It's worth noting that ALS remains a rare condition, affecting around 9 in 100,000 people in the US. Depression and anxiety are much more common, which means millions of people take these medications to treat their mental health without ever developing ALS. Over time though, scientists are gradually understanding the different factors that affect ALS risk, which should provide clues as to how it might one day be effectively treated. The research has been published in JAMA Network Open. Dementia Risk Declining With Each Generation, Says Promising New Study Several Psychiatric Disorders Share The Same Root Cause, Study Finds New Smart Dental Floss Can Detect Your Stress From Saliva
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dementia Risk Declining With Each Generation, Says Promising New Study
Dementia cases are on the rise around the world. In 2021, 57 million people were living with one of the neurodegenerative diseases under the dementia umbrella, and by 2050, that number is expected to reach 153 million. But a new study suggests the tides may be turning, with younger generations facing lower risks for the disease as they age. The research team, led by economist Xiaoxue Dou from the University of Queensland in Australia, ran a cross-sectional observational study using health survey data from the US, Europe and England: one that's representative of cross-sections of the populations involved at a single point in time, and based on observational data. The researchers only used variables that were available across all the survey data to estimate participants' dementia status, to compensate for any missing observations. "Birth cohorts born more recently were less likely to develop dementia in all three regions, albeit at different rates," the authors state in a journal article. "This decreasing trend was more pronounced among women than men." They particularly focused on people aged 71 years or older, with the data sorted into age groups spanning four years. Compared with the older groups, younger cohorts had lower age-specific dementia prevalence rates: 21.2 percent for those in the US study; 38.9 percent in the European study; and 28.3 percent in England. "For example, in the US, among people aged 81 to 85, 25.1 percent of those born between 1890-1913 had dementia, compared to 15.5 percent of those born between 1939-1943," economist and co-author Sabrina Lenzen of the University of Queensland told Nicola Davis at The Guardian. The team cautions their data may not accurately reflect what is happening in minority groups. But the findings suggest that, while aging populations globally will probably mean greater numbers of people living with dementia, the percentage of people affected may actually be decreasing, at least among the groups studied. This generational decrease in dementia risk, the study's authors write, "has important implications for health care planning, long-term care policies, and workforce requirements in aging populations." This research was published in JAMA Network Open. Several Psychiatric Disorders Share The Same Root Cause, Study Finds New Smart Dental Floss Can Detect Your Stress From Saliva Gluten Intolerance vs Celiac Disease: Experts Reveal The Key Differences
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Iron deficiency in mothers silences key sex gene, causes male-to-female reversal in mice
Scientists in Japan and Australia have shown that iron deficiency during pregnancy can cause a complete sex reversal in genetically male mice carrying XY chromosomes, leading them to develop ovaries. The research team from Japan's Osaka University and Australia's University of Queensland found that a severe lack of iron in the womb caused some genetically male embryos to exhibit female traits in addition to forming female reproductive glands. The findings challenge conventional theories by providing the first evidence in mammals that an environmental factor, rather than genes alone, can influence the biological process of sex determination. According to the researchers, the results show that the developmental path, which was based on the assumption that a mammal's sex is determined at conception by the presence of XY (male) or XX (female) chromosomes, is not as fixed as widely believed. Led by Makoto Tachibana, PhD, a biology professor at Osaka University, the research team revealed that the SRY gene, found on the Y chromosome, plays a central role in sexual differentiation in mammals. If this genetic fragment is present, the gonads, which are the primary glands responsible for producing reproductive cells, begin forming testes around six weeks into development. In its absence, they naturally develop into ovaries. However, the researchers found that when iron concentration was reduced by 60 percent at the cellular level, it interfered with sex differentiation by silencing the SRY gene at a critical stage of development. During mice trails, the team discovered that 6 out of 39 genetically male (XY) mice born to iron-deficient mothers developed fully formed ovaries. Another individual was intersex, with one ovary and one testicle. Similar outcomes were observed in additional experiments where mothers were given a drug that removes iron from the body, further confirming the role of iron levels in sex development. In this case, five out of 72 genetically male embryos developed female sex organs. "No dietary influences on sex development have ever been established scientifically before," Peter Koopman, PhD, an emeritus professor at the University of Queensland said. According to the researchers, the process seems to rely on epigenetics, which are chemical alterations to DNA that influence how genes are expressed without altering the genetic code itself. Simply put, this field of research explores how behavior and environment can cause changes that affect the way genes work. In he current case, iron deficiency affected an enzyme called Lysine demethylase 3A (also known as KDM3A), which helps activate the SRY gene. Without adequate iron, the enzyme cannot function properly, leading to the gene being switched off. Even though the findings are limited to mice and the effects on human pregnancies were not studied, Koopman emphasized that the implications could reach much further. "Iron deficiency affects an estimated 40 percent of pregnant women, and iron has not been previously suspected of influencing sex determination in the embryo," the professor said in a press release. "It is possible the results mean that the potential for sex reversal may be a concern to a subset of pregnant women who are already predisposed in some way to iron deficiency," he concluded. The researchers now hope to explore whether similar mechanisms exist in humans, and under what conditions iron levels could influence early fetal development. The study has been published in the journal Nature.
