![]() ![]() Horsehair worms belong to the phylum Nematomorpha, from the Greek word meaning thread-shaped, class Gordioida. Once in the mantid, the horsehair worm grows to an adult and emerges when the mantid seeks water. Inside the mayfly, the larva encysts but doesn?t begin to develop until a host such as a mantid that the horsehair worm can parasitize eats the mayfly. After the egg of the horsehair worm hatches, an aquatic insect, such as a mayfly nymph, eats the preparasitic larva. As such, they just want to get out so that they can go find a mate, as that is naturally the next step in their life cycle after they come out of the insect they were originally infecting.An example of a horsehair worm life cycle. It does not want to be there because they can not feed off a human. ![]() There have been cases of humans coughing up or excreting horsehair worms, but the worms have only gotten in their bodies because those people ingested insects which were infected with horsehair worms, thus releasing the worm inside the body of a human, where a horsehair worm does not want to be. Horsehair worms are parasites, but they do not purposefully infect humans. Such stories should be taken with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, horsehair worms are deeply misunderstood and have received a reputation online that borders on myth: people claiming that horsehair worms have infected their bodies and ruined their lives. ![]() With that said, we do not recommend killing horsehair worms, as they are harmless to humans and pets. To answer his question, yes, it is possible to kill horsehair worm eggs with a vinegar mixture, though we do not know how effective it is against the adult worms. “Thank you.” Now, he does not send any photos of any worms, so we assume he is asking as he is generally curious. “Can horsehair worms be killed or exterminated by spraying them with a vinegar mixture?” asks Tom in his submission. ![]()
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