Leeches are not only hermaphrodite, but also immortal. How hard is its life?

A leech not only has male and female reproductive organs, but also won't burn or die? Although, the first half of this sentence is probably unknown to many people. However, many people must have heard of the description of leeches in the second half sentence. Many people know that leeches can't die in the sun, but they often know it from the older generation at home, people who used to know each other very well or online inquiries.

However, how hard the life of leeches is, are these experiences about leeches true? The pictures between leeches may cause some readers discomfort, so the pictures in this article are mainly to show the habits of leeches.

Fear of leeches-filled with the childhood of most rural teenagers

As the earth revolves around the sun, our world has four different seasons. I believe that all people who grew up in the countryside like me will never forget the smell of rice and flowers in autumn and the yellow scarecrow scattered in the fields. Of course, our childhood is not only branded with these beautiful moments in life.

For example, until now, I still dare not go barefoot or walk back and forth in a shallow stream. Because, in my childhood memory, these places are easy to hide scary leeches. Although it's not big, it's like chewing gum on your feet, and you can't get rid of it. When I was young, I also firmly believed that once I got infected with leeches, I would go through a very painful process.

Even, I used to think that these leeches, like earthworms, would not die even if they were smashed into many pieces. When I watch many friends catch fish in fields and streams, sometimes I can't control my legs because of itching, but this doesn't prevent me from looking for small fish from time to time and checking whether there are leeches attached to my soles. Because every little thing in the water will attract my attention, I always find it difficult to get anything.

Leech is a hermaphrodite animal?

The most prominent appearance feature of leech is its body structure, which really belongs to "leeches in annelids" and has a more written name called leech. In fact, there are hundreds of kinds of leeches, most of which live in paddy fields, ponds or lakes, while leeches that often lurk in paddy fields are "Japanese medical leeches", and their greatest preference is to suck the blood of frogs and people.

Many times, many people mistakenly think that leeches must live in water. However, in fact, many mountain leeches live in grass and trees for a long time. Moreover, few leeches can live in salty fresh water or sea water. But all leeches have a reproductive commonality, that is, sexual inversion. Although leeches are also sexually reproductive organisms that are fertilized and hybridized in vivo, each leech has male and female reproductive organs.

In short, as far as the reproductive habits of leeches are concerned, the exchange of gender roles is probably the biggest label on them. Every leech may experience the roles of father and mother in his life. Newborn leeches will be excreted by female genitals about one month after mating, and become "young leeches" after about 16 to 25 days, and then these new leeches will start their own independent lives.

In some ways, leeches are like an ectoparasite. And their most effective weapon to attack the host is the sucker in its important body structure. The front sucker and the rear sucker located at the front and rear ends of leech body have strong adsorption capacity. This is also why once a person is sucked by leeches, he must not be forcibly pulled, because the sucker left in the skin is likely to cause infection. At this time, the effective measures we should take are mainly to pat the periphery of the adsorption part to make it fall off naturally, or to smear it with salt.

Of course, it may be obvious to many people that leeches are not as common as they were when they were children. The main reason for this phenomenon is that its living environment has changed obviously in recent decades. Coupled with predatory capture by some people, the number of wild leeches has dropped sharply, so the industry of artificial leeches has emerged.

Is it true that leeches will not die in the sun or be cut off, as rumored?

The most popular rumor about leeches is their tenacious vitality, and even many people claim that leeches are animals that will not die if they are dried by the sun, smashed into pieces by knives or even burned. However, is the life of leeches really that hard? Imagine, what animals in this world are not afraid of fire? High temperature can melt hard rigid bodies into liquids, so how can we not kill small leeches!

Leeches and earthworms are in common in many ways. For example, when their bodies are cut off, they will continue to creep. But no animal's body can survive after being completely chopped, including these leeches and earthworms. The argument that leeches can't die in the sun began when some people didn't put them into the water when they died completely, and then they thought leeches could "come back from the dead".

But in fact? In fact, only because you didn't stay in Sun Long long enough will leeches be released before they die. Any animal has its own fears, and so do leeches. Friends who have seen leeches should know that this is an animal without shell protection, and the skin is the last protective barrier of its body. That's why, when someone is absorbed by leeches, they can fall off directly with edible salt.

Maybe many people don't know the principle, but it's actually because there is a lot of liquid in leech, and the salt sprinkled on its surface will interact with the liquid in the body. Then, the high concentration of salt water produced by the two substances together causes the leech's body to contract under pressure. When the leech continues to ooze, it will cause dehydration and even further death. In a word, leeches really can't be killed, but they should be used in the right way.