Many people may also think of the parasite - clematis - clematis in addition to thinking that it is the top hunter of the insect world. It is assumed that the praying mantis has a clematis hidden in its body. But in fact, this is inaccurate, not every praying mantis has clematis in its body.
In fact, in addition to praying mantises, orthopteran insects are also hosts of clematis, such as locusts, crickets, cockroaches, and even cockroaches may be parasitic, but in these organisms, the chance of mantis being parasitized will be greater.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > terrifying parasite, the clematis</h1>
Today we will talk about the terrible parasite of clematis. Clematis, also known as horse caterpillars, horse manes, etc., belong to the phylum of linear animals. The body length is between 30 and 50 cm, the body surface is smooth and hard, because it is very similar to the nematode in form, hence the name.
I believe that most people have seen pictures of clematis in reality or on the Internet, and should also think that this long parasitic insect in the body of the praying mantis is very scary. Has anyone ever wondered how such a 30-centimeter-long bug could get into a praying mantis and burst out of its belly?
In simple terms, it is all evil that comes out of the mouth, and it is the praying mantis that eats the clematis in its stomach. Strictly distinguished, there are two main cases of clematis parasitism: first, relying on water sources to parasitize. Clematis larvae live in water and are commonly found in streams, rivers, ponds and other places. Clematis in the larval stage are so tiny that they are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye in water, and once the mantis drinks water with the presence of clematis larvae, it will be parasitized by clematis.
The second, secondary parasitism. That is, clematis larvae will first parasitize in one organism, and when this organism is preyed upon by another organism, clematis larvae will also parasitize smoothly into this new host. The following is an example of praying mantis and long-horned stone moth, the stone moth belongs to the order Pteroptera, adults have the ability to fly, and the larval stage is dominated by aquatic habitat.
Aquatic stone moth larvae feed on algae plants or other insects, and clematis larvae easily enter the stone moth larvae during feeding. Clematis larvae that enter the larvae of stone moths will cling to the side of the proximal cavity of the digestive tract of stone moth larvae and slowly absorb nutrients for growth and development.
Over time, one day this parasitic stone moth encounters its natural enemies and is preyed upon. For example, for mantises, the clematis larvae at this time smoothly enter the mantis and complete the "secondary parasitism".
After successfully entering the body of the praying mantis, the clematis will run into its body cavity, and some are in the middle of the mantis's digestive tract, so it takes root. The next step is endless "squeezing", which draws nutrients from the mantis's body for its own growth and development, and this absorption will not have any obvious side effects on the mantis in the short term.
However, as the size of the clematis grows larger and larger, it will continue to squeeze the body cavity of the mantis, and increase the nutrient absorption of the mantis, so that the mantis is "increasingly emaciated", and this endless "squeezing" will affect the development of the mantis gonads, and finally inhibit its reproductive ability.
It is worth mentioning that the parasitism of clematis to stone moths does not pose a threat to the life of stone moths, and stone moths can also reproduce normally. The praying mantis is different, once the mantis is parasitized by the clematis, the final result is only death, or cruelly "burst belly and die".
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > manipulate the life and death of a praying mantis</h1>
What's more frightening is that when the clematis is frantically absorbing the nutrition of the praying mantis, it will slowly begin to control the behavior of the praying mantis, and when the clematis needs to go to the water's edge to lay eggs, it will manipulate the clematis to come to the water's edge like a walking dead to "die generously".
Clematis controlling praying mantises? Isn't it terrible, if anyone who has seen the movie "Clematis Invasion" should be able to understand the horror of this ability better. So how exactly do clematis do it?
In fact, this initiator is a molecule called Wnt, and the Wnt molecule in the clematis is very similar to the Wnt molecule in the mantis, which can reach the point of being false and true.
According to the study, when the Wnt molecule enters the nervous system of the praying mantis, the mantis body is chaotic, and the synthesis of some proteins is out of order, while there is a protein that is abnormally active, and this protein itself contains genetic instructions that direct the animal to move to a low place.
When the instructions are relayed to the mantis's brain, the mantis will rush to a relatively low river or pond. There is also a view that due to the invasion of clematis Wnt molecules, the mantis is hot and unbearable, and they are forced to choose to "throw themselves into the river" in order to quickly cool down.
Careful people may find that in late autumn (late September to mid-October), there are some dying praying mantises in the water or near the water source, most of which are praying mantises parasitized by clematis.
If you're lucky, you'll also see scenes of clematis burrowing out of the mantis's stomach, which is not described in detail for fear of causing discomfort. The reason why clematis can be found near the water source is due to its habits, as mentioned above, clematis larvae are aquatic, so female clematis must return to the water to lay eggs.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > why clematis "can't get in"</h1>
Someone must have been in contact with clematis, recall the scene at that time, whether you remember the clematis that seemed to be unable to die, even if it was a foot step and a car, it could still jump around alive. What kind of existence is the clematis, the vitality is so tenacious.
In fact, the reason why the clematis is so "resistant to beating" is due to its unique body structure. The surface of the clematis is composed of dozens of layers of parallel fibers, which can be seen under the microscope, which is a distinct honeycomb-like hexagonal structure, which is very stable and can have a good buffering effect on the force, so that the clematis will be safe under the huge impact force.
Parallel fibers
I think some people should have a question, is such a terrible clematis harmful to people? Can it manipulate humans like a praying mantis?
To answer the latter question first, it cannot manipulate humans. As for whether it is harmful to the human body, of course, there is, how can a parasite more than 30 centimeters long run into your body without problems. However, the example of clematis parasitizing the human body is still relatively rare, and the following is a simple example of a real case.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > what happens if humans are parasitized by clematis</h1>
In September 1978, a 26-year-old young woman excreted a long bug while urinating, which was later identified as a female adult clematis. The woman recalled afterwards. Two years ago, I often felt a faint pain in the lower abdomen, and there was also a radioactive back pain.
And with the passage of time, this situation continues to intensify, especially in the past half a year, the pain in the lower abdomen and waist is like strangulation, and it will occur once every 3 to 8 days, and the onset time ranges from a few minutes to several hours.
Because after the attack, except for a slight dizziness, there was no other adverse effect, so the woman did not go to the hospital specifically for examination, but only took some Chinese medicine, which did not end until the clematis was excreted.
So how exactly does this clematis enter the human body? The woman said she lived two years ago at Balihu Farm in Jiechun County, Hubei Province, which was a swampy wasteland area that was frequently flooded. During the flood, she was involved in the harvest of rapeseed, wheat, broad beans and other crops many times. There are also experiences of eating wild lotus seeds in the lake water, fishing for wild diamond horns, fishing, drinking raw lake water, and eating fish offal.
This is the first case of clematis parasitism found in China, although there are also cases of parasitism since then, but the probability is very small, so far, China has found that the human body is parasitic cases less than 50 cases.
Analysis of those cases can lead to several common points: 1. the patients are mostly female; 2. there are cases of lower body contact with natural water bodies; 3. there are many symptoms of urinary tract irritation and injury, and gradually disappear as the clematis is excreted. Therefore, it can be speculated that clematis is parasitic in the human bladder to cause this series of symptoms.
Finally, introduce the path by which clematis enters the human body. There are four main types: first, when drinking water in the wild, the larvae invade the cheek and then move into the orbit; second, when drinking water in the wild, they swallow the clematis larvae by mistake; the third, enter from the cavity of the human body, such as: urethra, anus, external auditory canal, etc.; fourth, swallow the organism parasitized by the clematis.
This is the series of parasites introduced today, what do you think, please tell me in the message bar?