Today’s Bug of the Week is not actually a bug, but it rates pretty high on the ‘ick’ factor.
Todays ‘creature of the week’ was recently spotted in Okanagan Lake.
Leeches can be found in just about all bodies of water in the province, and Stephanie spotted today’s critter while on a family outing to a local beach.
“We had no idea that we had leeches in Okanagan Lake,” Stephanie said.
According to the BC Lake Stewardship Society, there are more than 700 species worldwide.
They can be found in pretty much any body of water, and even on land in moist areas.
Leeches are grouped according to the way they feed.
Jawed leeches have jaws and teeth they bite their host with and once attached, they secrete a substance that prevents blood from clotting, thus allowing them to feed on the blood of their host.
Another group of predatory leeches insert a needle-like proboscis into their prey to suck out the nutrients while a third group swallow their prey whole.
Predatory leeches feed on a wide range of living beings including insects, pond snails and freshwater clams.
The parasitic leeches will feed on a variety of hosts like fish, turtles and mammals of every type including humans.
In the middle 1800s, leeches were used in medical treatments for a variety of ailments.
And they are still used today in treatments for arthritis, blood-clotting disorders, varicose veins and other circulatory disorders.
They are also popular with anglers looking to land the big one.
Despite being rather unpleasant, leeches pose no threat to humans.
Have you had a close encounter of the creepy crawly kind?
Send us a picture at [email protected] and we may feature it as our Bug of the Week.
