It was said that whomever could untie the knot was the legitimate king of Phrygia. A previous king (Midas, actually, so another king about whom there are well known stories) had tied an ox-cart to a post with an elaborate knot. According to the tale, Alexander the Great came to the town of Telmissus in Phrygia (what is known today as Turkey). Incidentally, the story of the Gordian knot (which is where this worm’s name comes from) is also interesting. These worms parasitize arthropods, not dogs or cats!
Parasites sometimes have amazing life cycles. What happens next is pretty amazing… the Gordian worm then tricks the insect’s body into jumping into a body of water, at which point it bursts out of the host insect and becomes a freeswimming adult worm. The juvenile worm then lives inside the insect’s abdominal cavity until it is mature. How do the juveniles get inside of an insect? They encyst themselves on vegetation near the water’s edge, where they are then ingested by an insect eating the vegetation. So, I guess they are similar but much, much worse.Īn adult Gordian worm lives in water, but the juvenile Gordian worms parasitize arthropods. Well, they would be similar to the xenomorphs if the xenomorphs controlled your body like a puppetmaster before bursting out of your chest.
They have an interesting life cycle, similar to xenomorphs in the Alien franchise.
Gordian worms are parasites, but they are parasites of insects and crustaceans. I sent the worms to Texas A&M University to be identified, and they turned out to be Gordian worms. Many years ago I got a call from a client that had found long, white worms in a water bowl. Well, unless your pet is a tarantula or hissing cockroach, in which case it very possibly did come from your pet. If you see worms in your pet’s water dish, I have some good news: they are parasites, but they probably aren’t coming from your pet.
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