Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
Date of this Version
4-1969
Abstract
One hundred eighty-three woodpeckers of eight species collected in Louisiana were examined for Acanthocephala. Only the red-bellied woodpecker, Centurus carolinus, was infected. One of 53 was parasitized by an immature specimen of Mediorhynchus grandis; three by Centrorhynchus spinosus; 12 by Mediorhynchus centurorum sp. n. The new species of Mediorhynchus is distinguished by a trunk which is very narrow in the anterior 3 mm, but is suddenly expanded farther posteriad. Proboscis armature of 22 to 24 slightly spiral rows of six hooks and four or five spines each differs from all other species of the genus except M. corcoracis and M. emberizae. The maximum number of proboscis spines in M. centurorum matches the minimum number for M. corcoracis, but usually specimens of M. corcoracis possess more spines than those of M. centurorum. M. corcoracis also has larger eggs. The new species is distinguished from M. emberizae by males with cement glands widely separated from posterior testes and lemnisci which end before reaching the level of the anterior testes. C. spinosus and M. grandis have not previously been reported from Picidae or from Louisiana.
Comments
Published in the Journal of Parasitology (April 1969) 55(2): 324-328. Copyright 1969, the American Society of Parasitologists. Used by permission. Also published as: Studies from the Department of Zoology, University of Nebraska, No. 402.