Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:27:40.837Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An experimental study of the survival characteristics, activity and energy reserves of the hexacanths of Hymenolepis diminuta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

R. M. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, King's College, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
R. C. Lethbridge
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Birkbeck College, London WC1E 7HX

Extract

Similar survival characteristics were demonstrated for hexacanths of Hymenolepis diminuta incubated in Tyrode's solution with or without a glucose supplement (0–50 mg/ml).

The survival rate of hexacanths in all media tested was shown to be age-dependent and led to a maximum life-span of approximately 11 h.

The amount of energy reserves, as measured by microdensitometric determinations of PAS + material, declined rapidly in time to a plateau at approximately 8 h. Residual PAS + matter present beyond that period was interpreted as structural and thus non-utilizable material.

The rate of activity as measured by hook movements declined more rapidly, and continuous hook cycles were rarely observed after 2 h and ceased after 4 h. A close correlation was demonstrated between the decline in PAS + material and the total number of hook cycles completed per unit of time.

The quantitative results on survival, energy reserves and activity are discussed in relation to the penetration of hexacanths into the haemocoele of the intermediate host.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, R. M. & Whitfield, P. J. (1975). Survival characteristics of the free-living cercarial population of the ectoparasitic digenean Transversotrema patialensis. Parasitology 70, 295310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, N. T. J. (1964). The Elements of Stochastic Processes with Applications to the Natural Sciences. London: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Chandler, A. C. & Read, C. P. (1961). Introduction to Parasitology. London: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Collin, W. K. (1968). Electron microscope studies of the muscle and hook systems of hatched oncospheres of Hymenolepis citelli McLeod, 1933 (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea). Journal of Parasitology 54, 7488.Google Scholar
Collin, W. K. (1969). The cellular organisation of hatched oncospheres of Hymenolepis citelli (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea). Journal of Parasitology 55, 149–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conway, G. R., Glass, N. R. & Wilcox, J. C. (1970). Fitting non-linear models to biological data by Marquardt's algorithm. Ecology 51, 503–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lethbridge, R. C. (1971). The hatching of Hymenolepis diminuta eggs and penetration of the hexacanths in Tenebrio molitor beetles. Parasitology 62, 445–56.Google Scholar
Lethbridge, R. C. & Gijsbers, M. F. (1974). Penetration gland secretion by hexacanths of Hymenolepis diminuta. Parasitology 68, 303–11.Google Scholar
Murrell, K. D. (1968). Respiration studies and glucose absorption kinetics of Taenia crassiceps larvae. Journal of Parasitology 54, 1147–50.Google Scholar
Nieland, M. L. (1968). Electron microscope observations on the eggs of Taenia taeniaeformis. Journal of Parasitology 54, 957–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pence, D. B. (1967). The fine structure and histochemistry of the infective eggs of Dipylidium caninum. Journal of Parasitology 53, 1041–54.Google Scholar
Pence, D. B. (1970). Electron microscope and histochemical studies on the eggs of Hymenolepis diminuta. Journal of Parasitology 56, 8497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rockstein, M. (1964). The Physiology of Insecta, vol. iii. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Swiderski, Z. (1972). La structure fine de l'oncosphere du cestode Catenotaenia pusilla (Goeze, 1782) (Cyclophyllidae: Catenotaenidae). La Cellule 69, 207–37.Google Scholar
Taylor, A. E. R. & Baker, J. (1968). The Cultivation of Parasites in vitro. Oxford, Edinburgh: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Voge, M. & Graiwer, M. (1964). Development of oncospheres of Hymenolepis diminuta, hatched in vivo and in vitro, in the larvae of Tenebrio molitor. Journal of Parasitology 50, 267–70.Google Scholar
Voge, M. & Heyneman, D. (1957). Development of Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda: Hymenolepidae) in the intermediate host Tribolium confusum. University of California Publications in Zoology 59, 549–79.Google Scholar
Wigglesworth, V. B. (1965). The Principles of Insect Physiology. London: Methuen.Google Scholar