Category: Invertebrates
While similar in some ways to earthworms, leeches differ in other distinct ways – for example, leeches do not have bristles and have a sucker at each end of their body. Most leeches live in freshwater, though there are terrestrial and saltwater exceptions. They are well known for their adaptation of blood-sucking, though not all species of leech feed this way. Of the ones that do, some species are able to store more than five times their body mass of blood in their digestive system.
Body horror in the insect kingdom
Learning about animals, you can discover many fascinating, even beautiful facts, but there are also things that can give you nightmares! Enter the strepsiptera (“twisted-wing parasite”). The adult female has no limbs, wings, or mouth - she simply lives in and feeds off her host (typically a wasp). When it becomes time to mate, she protrudes part of her abdomen from between the plates of her host and uses mind control to get the wasp to fly off to nearby males. Sexually mature males have wings, and fly around for about five hours before dying - spending their entire short existence seeking out females to mate with. After the female is impregnated, her own young grow and consume her. And once there is nothing left to eat, they leave their host wasp, infiltrate the nursery, and latch on to a larvae to create their own “zombie wasp” host and continue the grisly cycle!
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