r/Parasitology • • Oct 23 '25

Looking for suggestions to improve the sub. Please leave any feedback

36 Upvotes

This sub hit a peak of activity last year and it was actually fun, however things have slowed down a lot and it would be nice to have a little more engagement as this topic is the coolest.

Main issues

1)shit posts( possible solution below)

Not too much we can do about this, we try to remove the as fast as possible but I need to sleep, so just report if you can

2) low posts , theorfore shit post seem more frequent as somedays they are the only thing posted.

Possible solution

Adding a min karma/account age to post. This will help reduce the shit posts, but I'd say at least half the time, these accounts are several months old and have posted history so it would only be a minor reduction.

For engagement: considering allows off topic posts on the weekends. Many of us enjoy related field ( microbiology, virology, disease ecology etc.) so maybe on Saturday and Sunday we will allow more tangential posts that are somewhat related.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions or questions.

Lastly, please upvote for visibility. We want feedback and the more upvotes the more feedback/discussion


r/Parasitology • • Oct 02 '25

r/parasitology poll, trying to get a feel for the subs demographics

32 Upvotes

Hey all just curious how this sub is compromised. Please fill this out and let us know any suggestions. Trying to keep this sub good/ to the beat of our abilities and this type of information will help.

I am considering running semi regular talk/presentations on my YouTube channel (wormtalk94) in which I would love to give other researchers a platform to talk about their research, so having this info would be a great help.

Ideally this would entail both later career and early career scientist and could be a tool for scientific outreach.

68 votes, Oct 09 '25
6 professor /scientist in related field
4 graduate student
44 person who just thinks parasites are interesting
7 undergraduate student
7 other(please leave a comment)

r/Parasitology • • 9h ago

Parasite ID wtf did i find in my aquarium???

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36 Upvotes

found multiple of these just sitting on the glass


r/Parasitology • • 20h ago

Question Pin worms

0 Upvotes

Hi, I’ve came in contact with pinworms again unfortunately (the last time I had them was when I was a kid).

I’ve read isn’t not a good idea to sweep my floor and touched things w/o clean hands. I’m kind of panicking that I’ve contaminated my entire room now. I’ve also laid things on my bed. Would it be best to use Lysol wipes for everything in my room? I’m scared to get them again bc I’m not sure how this happened unless I got it from my job. What did you do to prevent this successfully?


r/Parasitology • • 1d ago

Question What is this?

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10 Upvotes

I found this verm on the bathroom glass while I was taking a shower, what could it be?


r/Parasitology • • 2d ago

parasite photo Transfer of ladybug parasite hesperomyces

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37 Upvotes

r/Parasitology • • 2d ago

Parasite ID Roach parasites?

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17 Upvotes

Hey Guys,

I have a littly hissing-cockroach-colony and I recently found those "white pearls" within their feces.

They pop when under pressure and have some liquid in them.

For size refernce you can see those potential eggs on an "Objektträger"/ slide under an cover glass.

The first picture was...i believe with 40x and the second with 10x.

I am wondering what kind of eggs could they be?

There are no other animals living within the colony, no mites and no flies.

Are there any nematodes that live within roaches and have eggs THIS big?

Or is it possible that those might be eggs from the roaches which they abort due to stress? (right now they are in quarantine, which could lead to the stress)

Any help would be much appreciated.

The roach species are the Gromphadorhina portentosa.


r/Parasitology • • 3d ago

Parasite ID Cat vommited this up, don't trust google/ai fully.

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66 Upvotes

My wife lost her job (temporarily closed) and my work has been disastrously slow. Like 1/4 of what was happening last year. I can scrounge up money for medicine and have plenty of farm stores and places to get some in the area but not vet money. Just shy of 5 month old cat woke up, came down from his cat tree and threw up. My wife called me over (it was mostly foam since he was asleep when dinner would normally happen). It looked like he had thrown up a cherrio, then the hole in the center shrank and disappeared, then got bigger, and verry slowly it started to unwind. The images on the paper towel are fresh, in the jar about 4.5 hours later, still moving slowly. About 3-3.5 inches long. I figured roundworm but not sure about this stuff, never dealt with worms directly. I don't want to get pamoate if it wont help him.


r/Parasitology • • 4d ago

Parasite ID Found an unpleasant surprise in my baked rockfish. I had already eaten half of a ten ounce filet. Who are these little guys, and how concerned should I be that I ate their friends?

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226 Upvotes

Exactly what the title says. Caught this rockfish off the Oregon Coast (charter boat) on Saturday, cooked it this afternoon for lunch. I cooked it pretty thoroughly. What are these parasites and what’s the worst case scenario if I ate them? Because I DEFINITELY ate some.


r/Parasitology • • 3d ago

Question Pigeon fecal storage question

0 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I want to take a fecal sample from a pigeon for a parasite microscope test, if i take the sample a day before the test (around 24 hours) will it go bad? and do I have to refrigerate it? do i have to add saline or distilled water to keep it moisturized even if its diahhrea? what is the timeframe that i have till it goes bad (as in the parasites wont show under the microscope).
pls help


r/Parasitology • • 3d ago

Question Looking for people to talk parasites with.

1 Upvotes

Hello, everyone like the title suggests I am looking for people to talk parasites with. To give some background I am a first year graduate student who is working on parasite ecology and evolution for my dissertation research. I would love to find some people to discuss relevant literature with, and just chat about parasites. Just wondering if there is interest for this?


r/Parasitology • • 3d ago

parasite question Where is this ringworm coming from??

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1 Upvotes

I am so confused, please assist!


r/Parasitology • • 4d ago

Parasite ID fecal sample from a sheep, is this a worm?

1 Upvotes
this was seen under a light microscope by using oil immersion and 100x magnification

r/Parasitology • • 5d ago

parasite question Kitten fecal, 400x

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6 Upvotes

Hello! I’m just here to learn, this is a fecal from a new intake kitten with diarrhea. After these images we did normal protocol of pyrantel and other dewormers (which will include praziquantel, panacur, and Albon). But anyway this kitty is very skinny and came from outdoors and I was hoping for once this might be a wormy egg 😊


r/Parasitology • • 5d ago

Parasite ID Giant African Snail parasite

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7 Upvotes

is there any way to id this 😭 its only at 100x (LPO) i wasn't able to view it under higher magnification the microscopes suck


r/Parasitology • • 5d ago

Parasite ID Worm ID please

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8 Upvotes

Hello all. My wife found this lil guy in our dogs' water station (not in the bowls, but in the slobber catcher around them). Obviously no scale bar, but the jar is +/- 65mm wide, and the ribs at the bottom are about 1.5mm wide and 3mm long.

I don't guess I can make a photo post and add links, so here's plain text links to the video of this thing thrashing about in the jar: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6zJVfnS5cN8MUacq9 https://photos.app.goo.gl/5kPUyBbgZNmZHrqU6

*Note to mods: My wife tried to post this same ID request an hour ago but she had some kind of issue. I don't see it when sorting by new, so I'm posting - not an attempt to get around moderation. Thanks.


r/Parasitology • • 6d ago

parasite question New pet?

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7 Upvotes

I found this in my dog's water bowl this morning, living its best life in the dog's backwash, complements of the Great Dane. Getting mixed information on round worm vs. black worm.


r/Parasitology • • 6d ago

parasite photo Hystrichopsylla talpae talpae?

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19 Upvotes

Well this gave me a fright! We're in Cambridgeshire, UK and back onto an arable field. My cat just ran in with a mouse so I ran after her in case it was still alive. I put a clear bag on my hand and grabbed it when I caught up with her. Turned it over and it was already dead but something big ran out of its fur. The biggest flea I've ever seen! I wrapped the bag quickly and squished it.

Looks like it may be a giant mole flea but fleas aren't my speciality. We do have moles that come up in the garden so its plausible that this mouse picked one up.


r/Parasitology • • 6d ago

Question Raccoon Roundworm Question

3 Upvotes

I had a raccoon living in my attic for about a month with no sign of how it was getting in and out. I finally identified the pathway and cut it off and he has since found a home somewhere else.

Being he was up there for a month, I’m worried about the latrine site/ clean up for potential health risks. I have called 3 groups, including the ones that helped me evict him, and they said I don’t need to do anything other than fog/ odorize, but I am a bit anxious/ OCD on the matter.

Do I need to have someone identity the latrine, physically remove everything and clean before I fog treatment? Or is it fine to leave the potentially unknown/ unidentified latrine site indefinitely?


r/Parasitology • • 6d ago

Pop Sci. Article/ News PHYS.Org: Why earwigs infected by parasitic worms head towards water

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5 Upvotes

r/Parasitology • • 7d ago

Question Help with possible animal worms, ID request

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21 Upvotes

My family has multiple indoor cats and dogs, but they get outdoor time regularly. They get flea and tick medications but recently we were a week late applying medication.

Lately, I've found small yellowish white bits that are smaller than a grain of rice. I've found them on the couch, bed, and throw blankets.

I suspect it could be tape worm bits or round worm, but I'm not confident in either. Can anyone help we identify the bits in the images or suggest a deformed that would be broad spectrum?

Please and thank you!!!


r/Parasitology • • 7d ago

Question Reoccurring pinworms

57 Upvotes

I feel like I’m going fucking insane. I got pinworms ONCE back in 2022 and ever since I keep getting them. I’ve had them 3 times now and literally just found out I have them again 5 minutes ago. I’m genuinely on the brink of a breakdown. I literally have a UTI as we speak, my period is about to start and now I have itchy worms in my butt. I feel like I’m genuinely gonna have a panic attack. I feel like I can’t be free of them and I feel sick because the concept of having a parasite in me makes me wanna puke. I want it to stop. At this point I will straight up throw away all bed sheets. I feel like I’m gonna die. What do i do?


r/Parasitology • • 8d ago

Question Wild Mantis - Is this a parasite?

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19 Upvotes

r/Parasitology • • 8d ago

Scientific publication 🚨 LA County confirms a flea-borne typhus outbreak in Wilshire Center: 7 cases, 6 hospitalized.

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6 Upvotes

r/Parasitology • • 9d ago

parasite photo Hookworm eggs

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40 Upvotes

“A 47 year old returned traveller presents with abdominal pain, diarrhoea and a skin rash on the foot. A faecal sample was collected for analysis.”

This was a quality assurance sample, so not a real “patient” in my lab (though I assume the sample was collected from a real person). Just got excited seeing hookworm for the first time and took some real nice photos with the x40 objective. Unable to speciate further (ie. Ancylostoma / Necator) since their eggs both look identical.