this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
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Asklemmy
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Some species of snails are infected with a parasitic flatworm called Leucochloridium paradoxum, which has a life cycle that involves manipulating the snail's behavior and appearance to increase its own chances of survival. The parasite causes the snail's eyes to turn into worm-like protrusions, which are actually just the parasite's own larvae.
To birds, these worm-like eyes look like tasty little morsels, and they'll often peck at them to eat them. But in doing so, they're actually ingesting the parasite's larvae, which then complete their life cycle inside the bird's digestive system.
I remember a story where Charles darvin was on expedition and saw a wasp stinging a tarantula and laying her eggs into the spider and it had the most grueling death. Something like that, and that's where he realised that no god can be so cruel to make something like that. Now i have no idea if that is just a story or something that actually happened. But if you believe in any creator and see shit like that and still think: man that god guy sure has a funny sense of humor, you're kinda weird.
I scrubbed my toe once and realised that a good God can't exist, besides for the inherent contradictions in the Torah that also mean the Jewish God can't exist.
they are then pooped out onto other snails? How does this life cycle work
The larvae (possibly not quite the right word) eaten by the birds lodge in the intestinal tract near the cloaca. The eggs they produce are passed out, and snails eat the eggs.
~This comment is best read with Hans Zimmer's "The Circle of Life" playing in the background.~
Snails eat eggs???
Yes, but not deliberately - I think it depends on the species, but they'll eat decomposing plant matter, faecal matter, carrion, soil, fungi. They're not too picky. If the bird guano contains tiny flatworm eggs, bad news for the snail.
Aww
That's rough, oof!