Worm can crawl out of predators.A Gordian worm grows up inside an insect, then leads its host to drown drown v. drowned, drown·ing, drowns v.tr. 1. To kill by submerging and suffocating in water or another liquid. 2. To drench thoroughly or cover with or as if with a liquid. 3. itself so the worm can free itself. But, should an aquatic predator predator an animal that derives its life support by predation. get to the insect first, the worm has an escape plan, says an international research team. This marks the first time scientists have documented this escaping-parasite trick, says Fleur Ponton of the Institute of Research for Development in Montpellier, France. Typical hosts such as crickets aren't aquatic, but the worms make them so erratic er·rat·ic adj. 1. Having no fixed or regular course; wandering. 2. Lacking consistency, regularity, or uniformity: an erratic heartbeat. 3. that they hop into water. The crickets eventually drown, but the parasite parasite, plant or animal that at some stage of its existence obtains its nourishment from another living organism called the host. Parasites may or may not harm the host, but they never benefit it. escapes into the water, its natural adult environment, to breed. Once the cricket hits the water, the worm needs about 10 minutes to wriggle free. During this interlude interlude, development in the late 15th cent. of the English medieval morality play. Played between the acts of a long play, the interlude, treating intellectual rather than moral topics, often contained elements of satire or farce. , the cricket makes an attractive target for frogs, fish, and other predators. If something eats the cricket, the worm just keeps on wriggling until it emerges through the predator's mouth or gills (www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060422/frog.mov), Ponton and her colleagues report their findings in the April 6 Nature. The researchers recorded more than 20 worm escapes from trout, 6 from perch, and 6 from frogs. |
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