Spinochordodes tellinii

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Spinochordodes tellinii
Spinochordodes in Meconema.jpg
Spinochordodes tellinii with its bush-cricket host ( Meconema thalassinum )
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Nematomorpha
Class: Gordioida
Order: Gordioidea
Family: Chordodidae
Subfamily: Chordodinae
Genus: Spinochordodes
Species:
S. tellinii
Binomial name
Spinochordodes tellinii
(Camerano, 1888)  [1]

Spinochordodes tellinii is a parasitic nematomorph hairworm whose larvae develop in grasshoppers and crickets. This parasite is able to influence its host's behavior: once the parasite is grown, it causes its grasshopper host to jump into water, where the grasshopper will likely drown. The parasite then leaves its host; the adult worm lives and reproduces in water. [2] S. tellinii does not influence its host to actively seek water over large distances, but only when it is already close to water. [3]

The microscopic larvae are ingested by their insect hosts and develop inside them into worms that can be three to four times longer than the host.

The precise molecular mechanism underlying the modification of the host's behaviour is not yet known. A study in 2005 indicated that grasshoppers which contain the parasite express, or create, different proteins in their brains compared to uninfected grasshoppers. Some of these proteins have been linked to neurotransmitter activity, others to geotactic activity, or the body's response to changes in gravity. Furthermore, it appears that the parasite produces proteins from the Wnt family that act directly on the development of the central nervous system and are similar to proteins known from other insects, suggesting an instance of molecular mimicry. [4]

A similar parasitic worm is Paragordius tricuspidatus . [5]

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Behavior-altering parasites are parasites capable of causing changes in the behavior of their hosts species to enhance their transmission, sometimes directly affecting the hosts' decision-making and behavior control mechanisms. By way of example, a parasite that reproduces in an intermediate host may require, as part of their life cycle, that the intermediate host be eaten by a predator at a higher trophic level, and some parasites are capable of altering the behavior of the intermediate host to make such predation more likely; a mechanism that has been called parasite increased trophic facilitation or parasite increased trophic transmission. Examples can be found in bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and animals. Parasites may also alter the host behavior to increase protection of the parasites or their offspring; the term bodyguard manipulation is used for such mechanisms.

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<i>Caedicia simplex</i> Species of insect

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Nectonema is a genus of marine horsehair worms first described by Addison E. Verrill in 1879. It is the only genus in the family Nectonematidae described by Henry B. Ward in 1892, in the order Nectonematoidea, and in the class Nectonematoida. The genus contains five species; all species have a parasitic larval stage inhabiting crustacean hosts and a free-living adult stage that swims in open water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordiidae</span> Family of parasitic horsehair worms

Gordiidae is a family of parasitic horsehair worms belonging to the order Gordioidea.

<i>Paragordius</i> Genus of worms

Paragordius is a genus of worms belonging to the family Chordodidae. It was independently described by both Lorenzo Camerano in 1897 and Thomas Harrison Montgomery Jr. in 1898, though both authors gave the genus the same name.

References

  1. "Spinochordodes tellinii". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. Bhattacharya, Shaoni. "Parasites brainwash grasshoppers into death dive". New Scientist. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  3. F. Thomas; A. Schmidt-Rhaesa; G. Martin; C. Manu; P. Durand & F. Renaud (May 2002). "Do hairworms (Nematomorpha) manipulate the water seeking behaviour of their terrestrial hosts?". Journal of Evolutionary Biology . 15 (3): 356–361. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.485.9002 . doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.2002.00410.x. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13.
  4. D. G. Biron; L. Marché; F. Ponton; H. D. Loxdale; N. Galéotti; L. Renault; C. Joly & F. Thomas (2005). "Behavioural manipulation in a grasshopper harbouring hairworm: a proteomics approach". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 272 (1577): 2117–2126. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3213. PMC   1559948 . PMID   16191624.
  5. Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa; David G. Biron; Cécile Joly & Frédéric Thomas (2005). "Host–parasite relations and seasonal occurrence of Paragordius tricuspidatus and Spinochordodes tellinii (Nematomorpha) in Southern France". Zoologischer Anzeiger . 244 (1): 51–57. Bibcode:2005ZooAn.244...51S. doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2005.04.002.