# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/21 "2007-06-20T18:56:49Z")
[QUOTE=Rocketeer] 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. [/QUOTE] Rhizocephalan barnacles, which I was coming in here to mention. Perhaps my all time favorite parasite :). > **[Rhizocephala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizocephala)** > > Rhizocephala are derived barnacles that are parasitic castrators. Their hosts are mostly decapod crustaceans, but include Peracarida, mantis shrimps and thoracican barnacles. Their habitats range from the deep ocean to freshwater. Together with their sister groups Thoracica and Acrothoracica, they make up the subclass Cirripedia. Their body plan is uniquely reduced in an extreme adaptation to their parasitic lifestyle, and makes their relationship to other barnacles unrecognisable in the Adult r... - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/22 "2007-06-20T19:03:09Z")
[QUOTE=Crescend] 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. [/QUOTE] Wow. It’s like science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/23 "2007-06-20T19:03:38Z")
[QUOTE=CurtC] People got freaked out by the concept in the movie _Alien_, but this kind of thing happens frequently in the insect world. [/QUOTE] Doesn’t this happen in higher mammals too? Don’t tapeworms come clamoring out of your anus after you die, searching for a compatible new host? Or is that just the product of preadolescent campfire story mythology? [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cestoda) is uncomfortably silent on the subject, but does mention that the little buggers have been observed to grow up to lengths of 59 feet. ---
**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, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/24 "2007-06-20T19:15:07Z")
[QUOTE=Washoe] Don’t tapeworms come clamoring out of your anus after you die, searching for a compatible new host? [/QUOTE] No, tapeworms have essentially no musculature and can’t crawl anywhere. They are basically just a head and a bunch of reproductive segments. They infect new hosts by means of eggs that the hosts ingest. ---
**Author:** ![smhanse751](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@smhanse751](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smhanse751)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/25 "2007-06-20T20:10:07Z")
Now I feel like I have something crawling on me :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/26 "2007-06-20T20:20:11Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] No, tapeworms have essentially no musculature and can’t crawl anywhere. They are basically just a head and a bunch of reproductive segments. They infect new hosts by means of eggs that the hosts ingest. [/QUOTE] The life cycle is a bit more complex. Adult tapeworms shed segments which DO come out of the anus of the (still living) host. They are about the size and color of a grain of rice…and they do wiggle a bit while fresh. (and it is damned creepy to see, let me tell ya!) These are consumed by rodents, and then produce blood-born eggs. If/when the rodent is consumed by a carnivore the eggs hatch and the carnivore becomes infected by the adult tapeworm. The cure for tapeworms is interesting. Since they live in the host’s small intestine, they have a coating that keeps the from being absorbed as food. The cure bypasses this coating, and the worm is then digested…one dose and the parasite is history. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/27 "2007-06-20T20:21:49Z")
> [@Crescend](#): > > I think that would be the Emerald Cockroach Wasp. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!! :eek: :eek: :eek: > [@](#): > > […] the wasp stings precisely into specific ganglia. Ampulex compressa delivers an initial sting to a thoracic ganglion of a roach to mildly paralyze the front legs of the insect. This facilitates the second sting at a carefully chosen spot in the roach’s head ganglia (brain), in the section that controls the escape reflex. As a result of this sting, the roach will now fail to produce normal escape responses. > > The wasp, which is too small to carry the roach, then leads the victim to the wasp’s burrow, by pulling one of the roach’s antennae in a manner similar to a leash. [:eek:] Once they reach the burrow, the wasp lays an egg on the roach’s abdomen and proceeds to fill in the burrow entrance with pebbles, more to keep other predators out than to keep the roach in. [🆒] > > The stung roach, its escape reflex disabled, will simply rest in the burrow as the wasp’s egg hatches. A hatched larva chews its way into the abdomen of the roach and proceeds to live as an endoparasitoid. Over a period of eight days, the wasp larva consumes the roach’s internal organs in an order which guarantees that the roach will stay alive, [:eek: :eek: :eek:] at least until the larva enters the pupal stage and forms a cocoon inside the roach’s body. After about four weeks, the fully-grown wasp will emerge from the roach’s body to begin its adult life. [pant] [pant] I think the most horrible thing about that whole description is that it actually got me feeling sorry for cockroaches. Poor old roach-zombies. ---
**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, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/28 "2007-06-20T20:45:59Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] The life cycle is a bit more complex. Adult tapeworms shed segments which DO come out of the anus of the (still living) host. They are about the size and color of a grain of rice…and they do wiggle a bit while fresh. (and it is damned creepy to see, let me tell ya!) These are consumed by rodents, and then produce blood-born eggs. If/when the rodent is consumed by a carnivore the eggs hatch and the carnivore becomes infected by the adult tapeworm. [/QUOTE] Depends on the species of tapeworm. Humans don’t normally become infected by eating rodents, or carnivores that eat rodents. The most common intermediate hosts for human tapeworms are cattle, for the beef tapeworm, and pigs, for the pork tapeworm. These become infected by ingesting eggs in food contaminated by human feces. Humans acquire the parasites by eating infected meat. In the case of the pork tapeworm can also become infected directly by ingesting eggs. In any case, while proglottid segments can squirm around a bit, the whole worm doesn’t come squirming out of the anus in search of a new host, as **Washoe’s** post suggested. My favorite tapeworm joke, which was originally told to me by my mother, a registered nurse: [The tapeworm](http://www.unwind.com/jokes-funnies/doctorjokes/tapeworm.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/29 "2007-06-20T20:54:34Z")
> [@](#): > > the wasp stings precisely into specific ganglia. Ampulex compressa delivers an initial sting to a thoracic ganglion of a roach to mildly paralyze the front legs of the insect. This facilitates the second sting at a carefully chosen spot in the roach’s head ganglia (brain), in the section that controls the escape reflex. As a result of this sting, the roach will now fail to produce normal escape responses. > > The wasp, which is too small to carry the roach, then leads the victim to the wasp’s burrow, by pulling one of the roach’s antennae in a manner similar to a leash. Once they reach the burrow, the wasp lays an egg on the roach’s abdomen and proceeds to fill in the burrow entrance with pebbles, more to keep other predators out than to keep the roach in. > > The stung roach, its escape reflex disabled, will simply rest in the burrow as the wasp’s egg hatches. A hatched larva chews its way into the abdomen of the roach and proceeds to live as an endoparasitoid. Over a period of eight days, the wasp larva consumes the roach’s internal organs in an order which guarantees that the roach will stay alive, [] at least until the larva enters the pupal stage and forms a cocoon inside the roach’s body. After about four weeks, the fully-grown wasp will emerge from the roach’s body to begin its adult life. Where can I get some, in case I ever get cockroaches at my house? ---
**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, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/30 "2007-06-20T22:43:32Z")
[QUOTE=smhanse751] Now I feel like I have something crawling on me :eek: [/QUOTE] You do. We _ **all** _ do. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/31 "2007-06-20T22:55:45Z")
[Toxoplasma gondii](http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2006/08/01/a_nation_of_cowards_blame_the.php), known to make rats less fearful of cats, also appears to affect human behavior. ---
**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 21, 2007, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/32 "2007-06-21T12:14:17Z")
Cited in #11 above. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/33 "2007-06-21T12:51:34Z")
The guinea worm painfully emerges through human skin. A horrible disease, by all accounts: > **[Dracunculus medinensis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_worm)** > > Gordius medinensis Linnaeus, 1758 > Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm, dragon worm, fiery serpent) is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at around 80 centimetres (31 inches) in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. In contrast, the longest recorded male Guinea worm is only .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-h... Check out the “treatment” section of that wiki page. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/34 "2007-06-21T12:53:20Z")
Oh, and you definitely don’t want to google “guinea worm” and then click on “images”. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/35 "2007-06-21T12:54:05Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Cited in #11 above. [/QUOTE] Yes but still good info. I’ve taken both pathopsysiology & parasitology courses and didn’t know this (or didn’t remember). The courses usually just stuck to the relationship of the organism and humans. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/36 "2007-06-21T14:46:55Z")
You also don’t want to google “ascaris” images. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/37 "2007-06-21T18:37:31Z")
[QUOTE=yoyodyne] You also don’t want to google “ascaris” images. [/QUOTE] I believe my lunch is on it’s way up. Why did I do that… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/38 "2007-06-21T19:50:28Z")
That reminds me—what was the deal with those people who had the bizarre threads or strings sticking out of their skin? I think I remember hearing on TV that they had solved it, but I can’t remember what the upshot was. There was a thread about it here, but I can’t remember the name of the disease. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707/39 "2007-06-21T19:56:09Z")
Nevermind—it’s called [Morgellons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgellons). I just Googled ‘skin disease threads’ and it was the first hit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-one-of-the-grossest-things-i-have-ever-seen-tmi/408707.md?page=1)