Adult females lay large clusters of eggs, which explains why there may be more than one worm in your toilet. These pests live off of sewage and decaying matter, which makes your toilet a perfect location for them. If you spot tiny black worms in your toilet, they are probably drain fly larvae. The adult horsehair worms are free-living in fresh water and damp soil. They may also be found on damp garden soil after a rain. Horsehair worms are also found in streams and ponds and in domestic water containers such as bird baths, swimming pools, backyard ponds and pet dishes. The “head” end (calotte) is unpigmented and only slightly set off from the rest of the body the mouth is at or near this tip. Both tips of the body are blunt and rounded.

The bodies are cylindrical in cross-section (not flattened). They are not segmented like earthworms or leeches.

They can attack a wide variety of insects and related animals: grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, beetles, and katydids, as well as dragonflies, caddisflies, millipedes, centipedes, spiders, crustaceans, leeches, snails, slugs and other invertebrates. Once they hatch, immature horsehair worms try to infect a host. Immature stages are internal parasites of grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, beetles, and other insects and millipedes and centipedes. Adult worms are free-living and non-parasitic. No control measures are recommended.Horsehair worms are not harmful to humans, domestic animals, or plants. They do not infect humans, pets, livestock or attack plants. These roundworms are considered beneficial since they parasitize and kill harmful pests like grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, cockroaches and slugs. These larvae must parasitize an invertebrate host to develop. When mature, they leave the host to lay eggs. In the spring, horsehair worms develop as parasites in bodies of grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches and some beetles. These creatures writhe slowly contouring their hair-like bodies into intricate knots. They are normally found near ponds, streams, birdbaths, pet water dishes and livestock watering troughs. They are a thin worm from four to 14 inches long and range in color from brown to clear yellow or white. Horsehair worms, also known as Gordian worms, are a startling oddity, usually spotted during summer rainy periods.

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