Brainworm Nematode
Brainworm Nematode
Island Creek Elementary School
Fairfax County Public Schools
The Brainworm Nematode is one of many species of nematodes. Nematodes, also called "roundworms," are a large group of tiny, microscopic worms. Nematodes are not related to earthworms or any other worms other than nematodes. Nematodes, even though they are tiny, have long skinny, hair-like bodies. They do not have segments like earthworms.
Nematodes live just about everywhere, even though you don't see them. They live in soil and in water. Some are parasites and live inside other animals. The Brainworm Nematode is one of these parasites.
The Brainworm Nematode has an interesting life cycle because it depends on other animals to live, especially snails, slugs, and White-tailed Deer. Here's how it works:
Adult brainworms live in the blood and tissue that covers the brain of a White-tailed Deer. Even though they live in such a sensitive place, they don't seem to cause the deer too many problems. Adult brainworms lay eggs near the brain, and the eggs are then carried through the deer's bloodstream to its lungs.
Inside the deer's lungs, the eggs now hatch into larvae (baby nematodes). The larvae begin a long journey from the lungs (the deer's breathing organs) up the trachea (the deer's windpipe). Once the larvae crawl out of the deer's trachea into its mouth, they then get swallowed and pass through the deer's stomach and out in the deer's poop.
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