The intermediate hosts act as transportation from aquatic areas to their terrestrial hosts. Outside the UK, other species specialise in parasitising terrestrial hosts such as mantids by first being consumed by mosquitos or mayflies. Some species such as Spinochordodes tellinii and Paragordius tricuspidatus infest hosts such as grasshoppers or crickets that feed on vegetation with larvae attached. They are then eaten alongside vegetation or drunk with water by a suitable host which varies between species. When the eggs hatch, the larvae can encyst to survive until they are ingested. In the larval stage, these worms must find an arthropod host to complete their life cycle, often killing the host, making them obligate parasitoids.Įggs are laid in sticky strings underwater or on nearby vegetation depending on the species. DNA sequencing of the Parachordodes worm does not appear on the database therefore, more information on the gene sequences of the genus Parachordodes from humans, animals, or intermediates is required.AboutHorsehair worms’ adults are free-living in aquatic freshwater or marine environments and capable of moving across damp terrestrial areas. which has already been reported in humans in Japan. DNA analysis on 18S rRNA partial sequence arrangements was also carried out and both worms were assumed to be close to the genus Paragordionus based on tree analysis, and far from Gordius sp. (Nematomorpha: Chordodidae) based on the characteristic morphologies of cross sections and areoles in the cuticle. They were identified as Parachordodes sp. Both worms were males having bifurcated posterior ends and male gonads in cross sectional specimens.

Two gordiid worms were collected in the vomit and excreta of an 80-year-old woman in November 2009 in Kyoto city, and in the mouth of 1-year-old boy in December 2009 in Nara city, Japan, respectively. Abstract The present study was performed to describe 2 human cases infected by the horsehair worm, Parachordodes sp., in Japan.

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