Trichoids from Olabria were lethal parasitic organisms that originated in the Olabria system.
Typically, trichoids deposited pods containing three eggs inside fruits, which would then be ingested by a more advanced organism. After hatching inside the host's stomach, the trichoid larvae would proceed to migrate into the host's respiratory system. Once their mouths had developed sufficiently, generally in a span of 20 to 51 hours following the initial infestation, they would commence chewing their way towards the most abundant available source of hemoglobin, typically a major artery or the heart.
At this stage, the trichoid larvae would have grown to approximately the size of a Human finger, and removal was still possible with a reasonable probability of the host surviving. However, once the larvae penetrated the heart, death would rapidly ensue. After consuming a large quantity of blood, the larvae would enter a pupal phase. Upon reaching full maturity, the larvae would exit the host's deceased body, prepared to deposit ten to twelve egg pods. Their entire developmental process took less than three weeks.
Trichoids had the ability to infest almost any higher lifeform, and symptoms would not manifest until the larvae began to bore through the host's tissues. The initial indicator of a larval infestation was a persistent cough. Death resulting from severe hemorrhaging typically occurred within two hours after the cough began.
Trichoids were driven by pure instinct, with their sole focus being survival and procreation. Trichoids possessed green and black striped bodies, featuring mouthparts at one end and an ovipositor at the opposite end. Exposure to pure oxygen proved toxic to Olabrian trichoids, and could be used as a rapid and effective treatment for trichoid infestations.
Olabrian trichoids were a preferred assassination method employed by Bakuran Governor Wilek Nereus. Although he was unsuccessful in initiating a trichoid epidemic among the Ssi-ruuk through the captives they had taken for entechment, he did manage to infest Luke Skywalker, hoping that the Ssi-ruuk would retain Skywalker's body long enough for the trichoids to escape and infiltrate their shipboard population. If not for the Force, Skywalker would have been unable to stop them. He directly communicated with the parasites' simple minds and manipulated them into moving up his trachea and out of his body. Nereus also infected Gaeriel Captison, but she later received a cure.
The Olabrian trichoid's life cycle shares certain similarities with the real-world disease known as trichinosis.