When we think of parasites, we tend to think about tapeworms and things like that, that are found in our dogs from time to time and treated with a dewormer. However, a recent viral video has shed some light on the various ways in which parasites can find themselves in some rather disgusting situations.
In a viral post that surfaced on the r/Unexpected thread on Reddit, user u/paulobyly posted a video of an individual who takes a hornet between his two fingers and then proceeds to take out some tweezers to pull out an alleged parasite. The video was originally posted to YouTube by a doctor who goes by the name “Kurosyamo”.
According to him, the parasite, or a Strepsiptera, is a “free-living and highly mobile” parasite that enters the body and quickly kills the host. There are around 600 species of Strepsiptera, and once they are done with their host, they explode out of their bodies, leaving wounds that are incapable of healing.
He begins the video by taking the tail end of the hornet between two fingers, and says, “The hornet is harmless, so I think I can remove them,” referencing the parasites. He then proceeds to take the tweezers and begins tugging at a piece of something sticking out from under the hornet’s body. As he tugs, you can see what looks like a rubber band begin to come out, and just when you think it’s over he tugs again, revealing the long and almost wormy-looking parasite out of the hornet.
Weirdly enough, the hornet seems pretty relieved to have the massive parasite removed.
While the video shown on Reddit is just a clip of the larger video, you can view the larger video over on YouTube and I will link it below as well. In the uncut video, the Dr. proceeds to pull out a second parasite.
Perhaps the most disgusting part, at least for me, was watching him take the parasite and lay it over his finger to show what it looks like. Even commenters on the video say, “Why would he put that on his finger?”
Another state, “This is an incredibly skilled individual. “Imagine being able to grasp the wasp firmly enough so that it doesn’t move, but not so hard that it gets crushed. All the while, pulling out that worm-like parasite without breaking the body or crushing the wasp in the process.” And I must say, I agree. I don’t know about you, but honestly, this video had me somewhere between shocked, disgusted, and intrigued.