The cuticle softens due to the gregarine parasite. This taxon contains most of the known gregarine species. Individuals living in Dunedin's Otago Harbour are the only polychaetes known to host gregarine parasites. "Polybia paulista" are infected by the parasites strepsipteran and an un-described gregarine. This gregarine parasite also softens the ant's cuticle. Particularly prevalent are the gregarine protozoans found in the gut. In the typical gregarine lifecycle, a trophozoite develops within a host cell into a schizont.