# Please identify one of the grossest things I have ever seen...(TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2007, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707 "2007-06-20T13:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/1 "2007-06-20T13:05:40Z")
In lieu of photographs - as a photo of this thing would have made me even more vomitous than I already was - I will describe what happened this morning and what I saw in hopes that someone can tell me what exactly it was. So I walk into our kitchen this morning to observe our siamese attack cat playing with something on the tile. It’s a beetle - methinks. I grab a paper towel and snatch the unsuspecting varmint from the floor and crush it. No big deal… Well I do the unthinkable and open the paper towel and look at the heinous smush :eek: It looks to me like a cockroach! F\*ck! I don’t need these things getting into the house !I just had an exterminator here for ants not a month ago… Anyway, as I am staring at the crushed roach which was a small one…maybe 1cm in length, I notice this _ **thing** _ starting to come out of the bug. It’s long, and squirming…about the thickness of a piece of thread, jet black, squirming…it’s getting bigger, and bigger right in front of my eyes. Squirming… Did I mention it was squirming? So what the hell was this 3 inch long, thread shapped, squirming, black, wormy thing coming out of the crushed roach? I pray it wasn’t anything…unearthly. 🤮 ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/2 "2007-06-20T13:23:02Z")
WAG - Cockroaches act as an intermediate host for a number of parasitic organisms. One example: [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-3395(199008)76%3A4\<575%3AIHOMO(\>2.0.CO%3B2-7&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage](http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-3395%28199008%2976%3A4%3C575%3AIHOMO%28%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/3 "2007-06-20T13:39:13Z")
Why on earth did I read that? Nobody _made_ me read that, nobody even stood over my shoulder and _suggested_ I read that. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/4 "2007-06-20T13:43:04Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Why on earth did I read that? Nobody _made_ me read that, nobody even stood over my shoulder and _suggested_ I read that. [/QUOTE] Why on earth did I open that Og Damn paper towel an look? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/5 "2007-06-20T14:17:48Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] WAG - Cockroaches act as an intermediate host for a number of parasitic organisms. [/QUOTE] Indeed. I have seen cockroaches crawling around with larvae sticking out of their backs. The ones I saw were white, though. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/6 "2007-06-20T14:38:58Z")
People got freaked out by the concept in the movie _Alien_, but this kind of thing happens frequently in the insect world. Read sometime about the life cycle of the tarantula hawk wasp, or cicada killer wasps. There’s even one I’ve read about where the larva makes its way to the insect host’s brain and takes over the motor control (although I can’t recall the details). Yuck. Edited to remove the extra apostrophe from “its.” Did I really type that? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/7 "2007-06-20T15:11:06Z")
I can only imagine what that would have tasted like. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/8 "2007-06-20T15:20:39Z")
[QUOTE=CurtC] There’s even one I’ve read about where the larva makes its way to the insect host’s brain and takes over the motor control (although I can’t recall the details). [/QUOTE] L. paradoxum does this in snails. (This one’s particularly freakish.) S. tellinii (a type of Gordian worm) will take over grasshoppers, consume their innards while excreting a mind-controlling chemical, and force them to head to the nearest body of water and commit suicide by hopping in, where they (the worms) will then emerge and reproduce in the water. (These things are very long, too – as much as a meter in length) They’re whitish, though. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/9 "2007-06-20T15:26:12Z")
There’s another that controls the motion of ants to continue its lifetime in sheep. Here’s an informal account: [http://beingmrkenny.co.uk/blog/2006/05/the-story-of-a-parasite-mind-control-and-sheeps-poo/](http://beingmrkenny.co.uk/blog/2006/05/the-story-of-a-parasite-mind-control-and-sheeps-poo/) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/10 "2007-06-20T15:27:56Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Why on earth did I open that Og Damn paper towel an look? [/QUOTE] Same reason you look at the tissue you sneezed in. Can’t help it, can you? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/11 "2007-06-20T15:31:09Z")
Other behavior-changing parasites: > **[Toxoplasma gondii](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii#Behavioral_modifications_of_the_host)** > > Toxoplasma gondii (/ˈtɒksəˌplæzmə ˈɡɒndi.aɪ, -iː/) is a parasitic protozoan (specifically an apicomplexan) that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, T. gondii is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals,: 1  but felids are the only known definitive hosts in which the parasite may undergo sexual reproduction. > In rodents, T. gondii alters behavior in ways that increase the rodents' chances of being preyed upon by felids. Support for this "manipulation hypothesis" stems from st... > **[Ophiocordyceps sinensis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarchagumba#Behavioral_modifications_of_the_host)** > > Sphaeria sinensis Berk. (1843) > Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc. (1878) > Ophiocordyceps sinensis (formerly known as Cordyceps sinensis), known colloquially as caterpillar fungus, is an entomopathogenic fungus (a fungus that grows on insects) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is mainly found in the meadows above 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau in Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Bhutan and Nepal. It parasitizes larvae of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body which is val... > **[Dicrocoelium dendriticum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicrocoelium_dendriticum)** > > Dicrocoelium dendriticum, the lancet liver fluke, is a parasite fluke that tends to live in cattle or other grazing mammals. > Much of what is presently known about Dicrocoelium dendriticum is the result of the work of the naturalist Wendell Krull. While D. dendriticum was discovered by Rudolphi in 1819 and D. hospes was discovered by Loos in 1899, the full life cycle was not known until Krull and C.R. Mapes published a series of papers from 1951-1953 detailing their observations and experiment... ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/12 "2007-06-20T15:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Why on earth did I read that? Nobody _made_ me read that, nobody even stood over my shoulder and _suggested_ I read that. [/QUOTE] The hell of it is, I’ll do it again next time this situation comes up. I never learn. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/13 "2007-06-20T15:53:14Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] I can only imagine what that would have tasted like. [/QUOTE] Crunchy and bitter. Uh, I would imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/14 "2007-06-20T16:02:49Z")
[QUOTE=awldune] Indeed. I have seen cockroaches crawling around with larvae sticking out of their backs. The ones I saw were white, though. [/QUOTE] You sure you weren’t seeing them release an egg sac? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/15 "2007-06-20T16:22:16Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] You sure you weren’t seeing them release an egg sac? [/QUOTE] Yes, definitely. It was horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/16 "2007-06-20T16:47:31Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Anyway, as I am staring at the crushed roach which was a small one…maybe 1cm in length, I notice this _ **thing** _ starting to come out of the bug. It’s long, and squirming…about the thickness of a piece of thread, jet black, squirming…it’s getting bigger, and bigger right in front of my eyes. Squirming… Did I mention it was squirming? So what the hell was this 3 inch long, thread shapped, squirming, black, wormy thing coming out of the crushed roach? I pray it wasn’t anything…unearthly. [/QUOTE] From the description, it sounds to me most likely to be a [horsehair worm.](http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/e614horsehair.html) They parasitize various kinds of insects including roaches. [Here’s one that emerged from a cricket.](http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/images/HorsehairWormCricket.jpg) Fascinating creatures. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/17 "2007-06-20T17:22:29Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] From the description, it sounds to me most likely to be a [horsehair worm.](http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/e614horsehair.html) They parasitize various kinds of insects including roaches. [Here’s one that emerged from a cricket.](http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/images/HorsehairWormCricket.jpg) Fascinating creatures. 🙂 [/QUOTE] That little nasty is exactly what I saw! ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/18 "2007-06-20T17:57:27Z")
I am once more amazed at the creative ways that nature uses to propagate its the variety of life on this planet. By focusing on that amazement, I may be able to keep my lunch down. ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/19 "2007-06-20T18:19:48Z")
[QUOTE=CurtC] There’s even one I’ve read about where the larva makes its way to the insect host’s brain and takes over the motor control (although I can’t recall the details). [/QUOTE] I think that would be the [Emerald Cockroach Wasp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampulex_compressa). It’s not just the method by which the wasp controls the roach that’s interesting, but how the wasp larvae consume it. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/20 "2007-06-20T18:44:22Z")
There’s some sort of crab parasite that neuters its host and makes other behavioral changes, too–I believe I read about it in one of Stephen Jay Gould’s books. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707.md?page=2)