New and Emended Descriptions of Gregarines from Flour Beetles (Tribolium spp. and Palorus subdepressus: Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

Authors

John J. Janovy Jr., University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Jillian Tikka Detwiler, Purdue UniversityFollow
Samana Schwank, London School of Tropical MedicineFollow
Matthew G. Bolek, Oklahoma State UniversityFollow
Alaine Knipes, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Gabriel J. Langford, Southern Florida CollegeFollow

Date of this Version

10-2007

Comments

Published in the Journal of Parasitology (October 2007) 93(5): 1,155-1,170. Copyright 2007, the American Society of Parasitologists. Used by permission.

Abstract

The following new gregarine taxa are described from larvae of flour beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): Awrygregarina billmani, n. gen., n. sp., from Tribolium brevicornis; Gregarina cloptoni, n. sp., from Tribolium freemani; Gregarina confusa, n. sp., from Tribolilum confusum; and Gregarina palori, n. sp., from Palorus subdepressus. In addition, the description of Gregarina minuta Ishii, 1914, from Tribolium castaneum, is emended. Scanning electron micrograph studies of these species’ oocysts reveal differences in surface architecture. The Gregarina species have oocysts with longitudinal ridges, visible with SEM, whereas Awrygregarina billmani oocysts have fine circumferential striations; surface architecture is the main feature distinguishing the two gregarine genera. Although parasites from adult beetles are not included in the descriptions, adults of all host species can be infected experimentally using oocysts from the new taxa.