Fig. 2. Schematic representation of nematomorphs' life cycle in the wild: (a) infected invertebrates are manipulated by adult nematomorphs living in their hemocoel, which induce the hosts to jump into a watershed; (b) adult worms escape from drowning hosts, find a partner, and mate producing eggs; (c) over 7‾14 days eggs develop into semi-sessile larvae; (d) larvae encyst into aquatic immature stages of insects such as mayflies; (e) cysts survive insect metamorphosis, and remain viable even when the insect dies; when the insect is eaten by a predator, or when its dead body is consumed by a scavenger, cysts are transmitted; in the right host, they eventually mature into adults, closing the cycle (a). Figure redrawn from Hanelt et al. (2005).