Life Cycle and Development of Prosthorhynchus formosus (Van Cleave, 1918) Travassos, 1926, an Acanthocephalan Parasite of Birds

Authors

Gerald D. Schmidt, University of Northern ColoradoFollow
O. Wilford Olsen, Colorado State University - Fort Collins

Date of this Version

12-1964

Comments

Published in the Journal of Parasitology (December 1964) 50(6): 721-730. Copyright 1964, the American Society of Parasitologists. Used by permission.

Abstract

The life cycle of Prosthorhynchus formosus (Van Cleave, 1918) Travassos, 1926 is presented. The terrestrial isopods Armadillidium vulgare, Porcellio laevis, and P. scaber served as experimental intermediate hosts, and chickens and turkeys as experimental definitive hosts. After ingestion of the eggs by the isopod, the acanthor emerges from its shells within 15 minutes to 2 hours, enters the gut wall of its host, and remains there 15 to 25 days. It then migrates to the hemocoel and develops through the acanthella stage to the infective cystacanth by the 60th to 65th day of infection.