The worm is the larva of the mosquito ( Sciara militaris ) from the family of fruit mosquitoes ( Sciaridae ).
The body of a martial worm consists of 12 segments and has a length of up to 7 mm. Body color is white, head is black. The worm lives in mushrooms , under the bark of rotting stumps and trees , in decaying vegetables and fallen leaves.
With a lack of food, worm worms crawl, sometimes forming large clusters in the form of ribbons up to 4.5 m long and up to 7.5 cm wide. Various superstitions are associated with the worm in the people: for example, they were wondering in the direction of movement about the upcoming war or peace, harvest or a crop failure, and also, laying his dress on his way, about his personal fate: if a military worm passed through it, then it was a good sign, it went around a bad one [1] .
Adult military mosquitoes are black (females have yellowish stripes on the sides), with a length of 3 to 4.5 mm.
Notes
- ↑ Knipovich N. M. Mushroom-bearers // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
Sources
- Warrior Worm - An article from the Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary.
- Warrior Worm - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia . .