Odontomachus haematodus with parasite. Armenia, Belize.
I can’t imagine what an insect infected with a mermithid nematode must feel. In Belize last week we encountered several parasitized trap-jaw ants, each stumbling about with a belly twice the heft of that in a healthy ant. Scaled to human size, a mermithid would be at least as intrusive as an anaconda coiled among the intestines.
Young worms infect ant larvae via contaminated soil in the brood nest. Adult ants who developed with a parasite sapping their nutrients eclose in a recognizably stunted fashion: a swollen, worm-hosting abdomen and a curiously shrunken head. I was surprised on photographing the victims that the trap-jaw could still snap shut audibly and convincingly.
How affected are mermithized ants? Compare an infected individual to a healthy one (albeit of a different species):
Top: a mermithid-carrying Odontomachus haematodus ant with distorted abdomen and shrunken head; bottom: a healthy Odontomachus clarus worker showing typical proportions for an uninfected ant.
When mature, worms break free from their hosts. The process kills the poor ant, but it frees the nematode to mate and lay eggs.
Still. One more reason I’m glad not to be an insect.
photo details:
Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 7D
ISO 200, f/13, 1/100 sec
diffused overhead twin flash
A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
Awesome photos!
Thanks Sam! Hopefully we’ll coincide on a Belizean excursion some time. I can see why you like the place.
I doubt they “feel” anything like what we think of as feeling…yes they have nerves, but a very segmented nervous system, and given the manner in which they tolerate all forms of damage, parasitism, and dismemberment I do not think it possible they feel in any manner similar to mammalian feelings. But I agree – would not want to be this low on the food chain! Great images and information!
Mark – You think exactly as does Bert Hoelldobler on this matter. Certainly not pain or discomfort in the manner that we know them.
Oh, what nice pictures! I saw something similar when recently got some Tenebrio larvae to feed my ants, and as pets to my son – who reads to them every night in order to keep them strong and smart
. Well, what disappointing it was when while cutting one, I discovered a gigantic nematode inside it (but at least it was funny to make the pet shop owner confused with my approach: “Your mealworms had worms inside”).
Those are beautiful!
That’s definitely one of the more disturbing pictures, but still an amazing shot. Do the nematodes move much? My general animal empathy is kicking with sympathy itches on this one.
Wow! Look out for a call from National Geographic…
Wow! Let’s infect a lab colony!
I’ve always been bothered by how much these worms look like cellophane noodles. Not because I am repulsed by rice noodles, but because these worms look vaguely edible…
Very interesting and great photography! Hope you are sharing it in many avenues to publicize how fascinating nature is.
I’ve collected similar nematodes from the abdomens of grasshoppers in North Carolina. Grasshoppers are large insects, and those nematodes were huge!
Maybe what you have seen in grasshoppers are Nematomorpha, horsehair worms, a separate phylum of worms that parasitize in large beetles and grasshoppers. The host organisms finally move to water where the worms crawl out. Here are a couple of pics of such worms:
http://www.ameisenforum.de/335353-post3.html Photos 4 (habitat in the French Alps), 5 and 6.
Mmmmm… worms… “Alien” (the movie) could have been much more terrifying. (Or disturbing.)
Kill meee…
Incredible photos.
Just spectacularly beautiful images. I am intrigued by the wide disparity in nematode prevalence among insect groups. It seems as though every crushed grasshopper I encounter each fall is a virtual “bag o’ worms”, yet nematodes are present in only ca. 1 in 1000 corn rootworm beetles. Certainly the host size differences limit the load (the rootworm rule is one per beetle), but are there some other host characteristics (close association with soil) that predispose species to become nematode hosts?
[...] Bilder von Mermis-parasitierten Odontomachus aus Belize in seinem Blog platziert: http://myrmecos.net/2013/01/28/a-belly-full-of-worm/ "Ein Bauch voll Wurm" Der Vergleich mit einer Anakonda, die sich in unseren [...]
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Wow. Very cool, but also disgusting photo. I’m into weird stuff, especially stuff like cordyceps (I love the new post!), but parasites are hard for me to stomach (pun intended, ha ha.)
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[...] Earth has at least one parasitic nematode species that lives only with it. To cite but one example, here’s a vivid image by Alex Wild of a nematode-filled ant from Belize. “I can’t imagine what an insect infected with a mermithid [...]
[...] Earth has at least one parasitic nematode species that lives only with it. To cite but one example, here’s a vivid image by Alex Wild of a nematode-filled ant from Belize. “I can’t imagine what an insect infected with a [...]
[...] This poor ant carried an unusually large gaster and an unusually shrunken head. Where else have we seen this syndrome recently? Oh, yeah. [...]
I’m not usually squeamish, but these got to me. Ewwwww! Those poor ants!
Beautiful photos, though, as always.
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