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Ten weird parasites

10 WEIRD PARASITES

eye-inflating flatworm


larvae of the greenbanded broodsac fill the eye-stalks of infected snails, making them look (and wriggle) like little caterpillars – luring hunting birds.

Zombie-making wasp


the female emerald cockroach wasp stings a cockroach’s brain, then lays an egg on its belly – and the wasp larva devours its host from the inside.

Tongue-eating louse


the sea louse cymothoa exigua feeds on blood from a fish’s tongue till it withers away, then attaches itself to the stump to feed on blood and mucus.

eye worm


the larvae of the nematode worm loa loa infect human eyes, and can be seen and, more horribly, felt as they squirm across the tissue beneath the cornea.

Skin-boiling worm 


the guinea worm Dracunculus medinensis grows up to 1m long in humans, causing a burning pain as it emerges through the skin of legs.

Head-splitting fungus


An ant infected with ophiocordyceps unilateralis climbs to the top of a plant and die. the fungus’ fruiting body then bursts from the ant’s head.

Sex-change bacteria 


Wolbachia are transmitted to their insect hosts’ offspring in eggs. to increase dispersal, these bacteria can change hosts’ sex from male to female.

Vampire fish 


the tiny, eel-like candiru of the Amazon swims into the gills of other fish and feasts on their blood. reports suggest that it
sometimes swims into human orifices.

Mind-control bug 


the single-celled parasite toxoplasma gondii eliminates infected rodents’ fear of cats – which then easily catch the rodents and are themselves infected.

Crabcastrating barnacle 


When a female sacculina barnacle infects a crab, it changes the host’s hormones, effectively sterilising it.
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