Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T10:20:06.045Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Structure of the pinworm (Oxyurida: Nematoda) guild in the hindgut of the american cockroach, Periplaneta americana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

M. L. Adamson  and
S. Noble
M. L. Adamson
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., V6T IZ4, Canada
S. Noble
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., V6T IZ4, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The pinworm (Oxyurida: Nematoda) guild in a laboratory colony of Periplaneta americana was investigated to answer the following questions. (1) Is guild structure stable with time? (2) Is there evidence of interaction among the species? (3) Is there evidence for niche diversification with respect to spatial distribution or developmental stage of host? Four species were found: Thelastoma periplaneticola, Thelastoma bulhoesi, Hammerschmidtiella diesingi and Leidynema appendiculatum; females of the first two could not be distinguished and they were lumped and referred to as Thelastoma sp.; 328 mid-instar hosts were dissected between September 1987 and February 1990, and the number of adult females of each pinworm species was recorded to investigate changes in guild structure through time. Seventy-five percent of hosts had Thelastoma sp., 62% had H. diesingi and 40% had L. appendiculatum; mean intensities were 6.5 (Thelastoma), 2.9 (H. diesingi) and 1.9 (L. appendiculatum). Relative numbers were stable with time and intensities of the species were similar whether they occurred alone in the host or in conjunction with other species. Thelastoma sp. and L. appendiculatum occurred together less often than expected and their numbers in individual hosts were negatively correlated. Both species occurred alone more often than expected. Surprisingly, H. diesingi and L. appendiculatum occurred together more often than expected. Intestines of 44 roaches were frozen in liquid nitrogen and divided into 5 equal sections to study longitudinal distributions of the species in the gut. Most L. appendiculatum and H. diesingi were found in the first, whereas most Thelastoma sp. occurred in the second segment. However, Thelastoma sp. dominated all segments of the gut. Worms were counted in 192 hosts belonging to 4 categories (early instar, late instar, adult male and adult female). Single species infections were more common in early instar hosts but there was no evidence that different species preferred different host stages. Modal distributions in male L. appendiculatum and T. bulhoesi suggest that these species may exhibit intraspecific interference competition similar to that observed in other pinworms. Such effects may be more important than interspecific effects in maintaining guild stability.

Keywords

pinwormsOxyuridaniche diversificationinterference competitionallelopathyspecies packing
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 104 , Issue 3 , June 1992 , pp. 497 - 507
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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

Adamson, M. L. (1981 a). Life history of Gyrinicola batrachiensis (Oxyuroidea; Nematoda) in tadpoles and a revision of the Rhigonematida and the Oxyuroidea of arthropods. Ph.D. thesis, University of Guelph, Canada.Google Scholar
Adamson, M. L. (1982 b). Development and transmission of Gyrinicola batrachiensis (Walton, 1929) Adamson 1981 (Pharyngodonidae; Oxyuroidea). Canadian Journal of Zoology 59, 1351–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adamson, M. L. (1989). Evolutionary biology of the Oxyurida (Nematoda): biofacies of a haplodiploid taxon. Advances in Parasitology 28, 175–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Adamson, M. L., Buck, A. & Noble, S. (1992). Transmission pattern and intraspecific competition as determinants of population structure in pinworms (Oxyurida; Nematoda). Journal of Parasitology (in the press).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Begon, M., Harper, J. & Townsend, C. (1986). Ecology – Individuals, Populations, and Communities. Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates Inc.Google Scholar
Dunn, O. J. (1964). Multiple contrasts using rank sums. Technometrics 6, 241–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hominick, W. M. & Davey, K. G. (1972 a). The influence of host stage and sex upon the size and composition of the population of two species of thelastomatids parasitic in the hindgut of Periplaneta americana. Canadian Journal of Zoology 50, 947–55.Google Scholar
Hominick, W. M. & Davey, K. G. (1972 b). Reduced nutrition as the factor controlling the population of pinworms following endocrine gland removal in Periplaneta americana L. Canadian Journal of Zoology 50, 1421–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hominick, W. M. & Davey, K. G. (1973). Food and the spatial distribution of adult female pinworms parasitic in the hindgut of Periplaneta americana L. International Journal for Parasitology 3, 759–71.Google Scholar
Leibersperger, E. (1960). Die Oxyuroidea der europäischen Arthropoden. Parasitologische Schriftenreihe 11, 1–151.Google Scholar
Magalhaes, P. S. De. (1900). Notes d'helminthologie Brésilienne. Archives de Parasitologie, Paris 3, 34–69.Google Scholar
Noble, S. J. (1991). Factors influencing the pinworm community (Oxyurida; Nematoda) parasitic in the hindgut of the American cockroach Periplaneta americana. M.Sc. thesis, University of British Columbia.Google Scholar
Pkam Van, Luc & Spiridonov, S. E. (1990). Experimental evidence of arrhenotoky in the nematode Blatticola blattae (Oxyurida: Thelastomatidae). Helminthologia 27, 67–70.Google Scholar
Petter, A. J. (1966). Equilibre des espèces dans les populations de Nématodes parasites du colon des tortues terrestres. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, série A, Zoologie 39, 1–252.Google Scholar
Roth, L. M. (1981). Introduction. In The American Cockroach, (ed. Bell, W. J. & Adiyodi, K. G.), pp. 1–13. New York: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Schad, G. A. (1963). Niche diversification in a parasitic species flock. Nature, London 198, 404–6.Google Scholar
Strand, M. & Brooks, M. (1977). Pathogens of Blattidae (Cockroaches). Bulletin of the World Health Organization 55, 289–304.Google ScholarPubMed
Zar, J. H. (1984). Biostatistical Analysis (2nd Edn.). Englewood Cliffs, N. J.USA: Prentice-Hall Inc.Google Scholar
Zervos, S. (1988 a). Population dynamics of a thelastomatid nematode of cockroaches. Parasitology 96, 353–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zervos, S. (1988 b). Evidence for population self-regulation, reproductive competition and arrhenotoky in a thelastomatid nematode of cockroaches. Parasitology 96, 369–79.Google Scholar