Gordius Balticus

picture info	Horsehair Worm Nematomorpha (sometimes called Gordiacea, and commonly known as horsehair worms, hairsnakes, or Gordian worms) are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size from long, reaching 2 metres in extreme cases, and in diameter. Horsehair worms can be discovered in damp areas, such as watering troughs, swimming pools, streams, puddles, and cisterns. The adult worms are free-living, but the larvae are parasitic on arthropods, such as beetles, cockroaches, mantises, orthopterans, and crustaceans. About 351 freshwater species are known and a conservative estimate suggests that there may be about 2000 freshwater species worldwide. The name "Gordian" stems from the legendary Gordian knot. This relates to the fact that nematomorphs often coil themselves in tight balls that resemble knots. Description and biology Nematomorphs possess an external cuticle without cilia. Internally, they have only longitudinal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Gordius (worm) ''Gordius'' is a genus of worms in the phylum Nematomorpha, the horsehair worms. It was formerly treated as the only genus in the family Gordiidae, but the genus '' Acutogordius'' is now considered as distinct.Bleidorn, C., et al. (2002)Systematic relationships of Nematomorpha based on molecular and morphological data.''Invertebrate Biology'' 121(4), 357-64. The genus is distributed worldwide except for Antarctica, where no Nematomorpha have been recorded.Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. (2002)Are the genera of Nematomorpha monophyletic taxa? ''Zoologica Scripta'' 31(2), 185-200. Description The adult worm is a free-living animal. It is hairlike, very long and very thin. It commonly grows over a meter long,Capinera, J. LHorsehair Worms, Hairworms, Gordian Worms, Nematomorphs, ''Gordius'' spp. (Nematomorpha: Gordioidea). EENY-117. Entomology and Nematology. Florida Cooperative Extension Service. University of Florida IFAS. Published 1999, revised 2005. with the record length held by a specimen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of . The capital city Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest urban areas of the country. The Estonian language is the autochthonous and the official language of Estonia; it is the first language of the majority of its population, as well as the world's second most spoken Finnic language. The land of what is now modern Estonia has been inhabited by '' Homo sapiens'' since at least 9,000 BC. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last " pagan" civilisations in Europe to adopt Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Nematomorpha Nematomorpha (sometimes called Gordiacea, and commonly known as horsehair worms, hairsnakes, or Gordian worms) are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size from long, reaching 2 metres in extreme cases, and in diameter. Horsehair worms can be discovered in damp areas, such as watering troughs, swimming pools, streams, puddles, and cisterns. The adult worms are free-living, but the larvae are parasitic on arthropods, such as beetles, cockroaches, mantises, orthopterans, and crustaceans. About 351 freshwater species are known and a conservative estimate suggests that there may be about 2000 freshwater species worldwide. The name "Gordian" stems from the legendary Gordian knot. This relates to the fact that nematomorphs often coil themselves in tight balls that resemble knots. Description and biology Nematomorphs possess an external cuticle without cilia. Internally, they have only longitudin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]