Machibet777 CasinoCreepy 'zombie snail' flashes green and orange as eyeball-invading parasite forces doomed creature to kill itself | The Sun - Machibet777 Casino

A CREEPY "zombie snail" with green and orange flashing horns has been caught on camera.

Experts say that the snail has been taken over by a parasitic flatworm that controls its every move – and even force its own suicide.

The shelled "zombie" was spotted crawling along a hillside in Changhua County, Taiwan earlier this month.

Local hikers were shocked by the gastropod, with tourist Lin Ruian saying it looked like it had "flashing lights".

"The snail looked like it had multicoloured neon lights inside," Lin said.

"I don't know what was causing it but it was very strange. I poked it with a stick and it rolled over."

Sadly, the snail had actually been turned into a "zombie" by a flatworm.

The green-banded broodsac – also known as leucochloridium paradoxum – uses snails as hosts to spread.

First, the parasite enters the eyestalks of the snail.

And then it will create a bright pulsing pattern to imitate a caterpillar.

This is designed to attract hunting birds – the kind that would typically eat a snail.

The parasite controls the snail's movement, effectively "instructing" it to go out into the open so birds can spot it easily.

Once inside the bird, the parasite can reproduce within the intestinal tract, and then spread further through its faeces.

Here's what you need to know...

The green-banded broodsac is a parasitic flatworm that uses snails as a host, in a bid to enter the body of a bird
It's also known as the Leucochloridium paradoxum, and is typically found in Europe, North America and some parts of Asia
It infects the snail's eyes, making them look like caterpillars or maggots
This process is known as aggressive mimicry, where the parasite resembles the food of the host
Uninfected snails typically seek dark areas to avoid predators
But infected snails have a deficit in light detection, and are then more likely to become exposed to predators
Birds eat them, then becoming a host for the broodsac to mature
They then release eggs inside the bird's rectum, which are later excreted as faeces
These droppings are then consumed by snails, which completes the life cycle of the parasitic worm

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Creepy ‘zombie snail’ flashes green and orange as eyeball-invading parasite forces doomed creature to kill itself