This is the repulsive moment parasite worms packed inside a cricket’s body burst free and escape after the insect is crushed. The long, thread-like creatures are thought to be hairworms, which lurk bundled up inside their hosts.

They grow so large they take up most of the room inside the unfortunate insect, then wait for the right moment to break free. In this case, they emerged after the host cricket was crushed, presumably by a man heard in the background talking about how he ‘stepped on’ it. The video shows the hideous creatures desperately wriggling free of the cricket’s broken body after it has been killed. They squirm in all different directions trying to find a new insect to inhabit much to the repugnance of the young men watching.
The video emerged on Liveleak, where it has had more than 30,000 views. Hairworms are hardy parasites and can survive at temperatures as low as -70oC. Luckily their chosen hosts are crustaceans and insects, rather than humans. They are aquatic, and when they inhabit land-dwelling creatures they can manipulate the brain of their hosts to seek water so the hairworm can escape.