Glaridacris live in the intestine of suckers. They may stimulate the intestine of the host to grow around their scolex, thus providing a better anchoring than might be possible with just their weakly-developed scolex. Unembryonated eggs pass in the feces and take about 2 weeks to embryonate in the mud. If eaten by a freshwater oligochate they hatch and the oncosphere burrows into the body cavity. It develops into a procercoid in about 3 weeks. When suckers feed on infected oligochaetes, the procercoid develops into a neotenic plerocercoid which produces eggs. The interpretation that egg-producing stages within the fish are neotenic plerocercoids rather that typical adults is based on the life cycles of other related parasites.