You can fit somewhere in the ballpark of fifty baby Gordian worms (commonly referred to as horsehair worms) onto the average pinhead. They’re so small that Mayfly larvae, which are tiny themselves, accidentally ingest them while hanging out—doing larvae stuff—in the water—where both creatures start out their life. Once a baby Gordian gets swallowed, it burrows down into the Mayfly’s insides. There, it waits, content to not become too much of a bother. That’s because Gordian worms aren’t after Mayflies. Instead, like Machiavelli himself, they play the long game.
Mayflies aren’t considered adults until after they gain their wings—which, if the old adage holds up, occurs just about every time a homeless person pisses through a sewer grate (every time a sewer grate rings, a mayfly gets its wings, or so the legend says). Once they become winged, which can take up to two years, they escape from the water and fly into the air as free as can be for the next day or so. Then they die—o…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to C.B. Huckabee to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.