A new method has been developed to investigate behavioural diapause in adult Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks. It is based on a system of gauze columns in which the activity of the ticks can be monitored in the laboratory. An experiment was conducted, involving different photoperiodic conditions during the nymph-to-adult moulting and pre-questing periods, with the aim of comparing the results obtained by the in vitro method with those of the standard in vivo method. Comparable results were obtained with both methods.

During the period extending from February 1955 to January 1956, 192 specimens of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus sonoriensis (LeConte), 174 specimens of white tail antelope ground squirrels, Citellus leucurus leucurus (Merriam) and 154 specimens of Ord kangaroo rats, Dipodomys ordii pallidus (Durrant & Setzer), were examined to determine louse-host associations, rate of infestation, frequency of distribution and seasonal fluctuation of louse populations.

Five species of lice were recovered from three species of rodents. The dominant species on the deer mouse was Hoplopleura hesperomydis (Osborn). The dominant species on the white tail antelope ground squirrel was Neohaematopinus citellinus Ferris. The only louse species recovered from the Ord kangaroo rat was Fahrenholzia pinnata K. & F.

Infestation on rodents was recorded on the basis of percentage of hosts infested, number of lice per host and number of lice per infested host. The highest number of lice per host was 27·7 Neohaematopinus citellinus per infested white tail antelope ground squirrel. The lowest value was 2·5 Polyplax auricularis per infested deer mouse.

Approximately 80 % of the rodent sample had less than 25 lice per host. This grouping accounted for about one-half of the total number of recovered lice.

Seasonal fluctuations of louse populations on deer mice, white tail antelope ground squirrels and Ord kangaroo rats were studied over one complete year. There appeared to be some coincidence between rodent activity, temperature and louse populations.

The trematodes described below were collected at the Marine Biological Station at Ghardaga, Red Sea.

Type specimens are deposited in the Department of Parasitology of Faculty of Medicine, Abbassia, Egypt.

All measurements are in millimetres.

The British species of Aëdes, A.(Finlaya) geniculatus, lays its eggs on the damp surfaces of tree-holes containing water; or, if the expanse of water in the hole be large, often directly upon the water surface.

Evidence has accrued to indicate that host defence mechanisms enhance the efficacy of many of the drugs used to treat infectious diseases. Because of this, and also because of the likelihood of increased pathogen loads in immunoincompetent hosts, some infections are less likely to be completely cured by normal regimens of chemotherapy in individuals with drastically impaired immune responsiveness. In such circumstances natural selection could result in the accelerated emergence of drug-resistant pathogens.

The humoral responses of Sprague–Dawley rats infected with Brugia pahangi were examined for up to 6 months after infection by ELISA, immunoblotting, and IFAT. In 2 experiments, 50% and 62·5% of rats developed patent, microfilaraemic infections. Mean adult worm burdens at autopsy were approximately 2% of the inoculum, and only patent rats yielded living adult worms. IgG antibody levels against crude somatic extracts (CSE) of all parasite stages and against adult excreted/secreted (ES) products were significantly higher in patent than non-patent rats. Both patent and non-patent rats produced anti-microfilarial surface antibody, as revealed by immunofluorescence. Immunostaining of Western blots by early infection sera showed no consistent difference in recognition of infective larval (L3) antigenic components by IgG or IgM antibody between eventually-patent and eventually-non-patent rats. By 26 weeks, however, patent rats recognized more components. The data suggest that antibodies against L3, adult, and microfilarial somatic antigens, ES antigens and microfilarial surface antigens do not correlate with the subsequent development of microfilaraemia in any individual rat.

Eimeria phasiani was shown to be pathogenic to young pheasant poults. Doses of 100000 or more oocysts proved fatal to birds up to 3 weeks old. Lesser doses produced losses in the live-weight gain of the host.

Two separate strains of E. phasiani were completely susceptible to 0·006% (w/w) Sulphaquinoxaline, but less so to 0·006% (w/w) Amprolium and 0·0125% (w/w) Zoalene.

I should like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr E. U. Canning for her supervision and helpful advice, and to Professor O. W. Richards, F.R.S., for permission to work at the Imperial College Field Station. I am also grateful to Mr T. H. Blank, of the Eley Game Advisory Service, Fordingbridge, Hants, who gave day-old pheasant chicks for this study.

The work was financed by a scholarship from the Agricultural Research Council.

Fertilization phenomena has been observed in the malaria parasite of the Himalayan Flying Squirrel with blood showing heavy infection. The blood was obtained on the slide, put in the moist chamber, dried and stained. Two types of microgametes could be distinguished. One of these two types were found in various stages of the process of fertilization. More than one microgamete were often found to take part in fertilizing a single macrogamete. This is the first recorded case of polyspermy in malaria parasites.

Thanks are due to Mr Nandalal Pau for his help in preparing the Plate incorporated in this paper.

This investigation received financial support from the World Health Organization.

Trichomonas vaginalis is an extracellular parasite that colonizes the human urogenital tract leading to trichomoniasis, the most common sexually-transmitted non-viral disease worldwide. The immune response plays a critical role in the host defense against this parasite. Trichomonas' DNA contains unmethylated CpG motifs (CpGDNA) that in other microorganisms act as modulators of the immune response. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for CpGDNA immune modulation are still unclear. As macrophages participate in the first line of defense against infection, we investigated the type of immune response of murine macrophages to T. vaginalis DNA (TvDNA). We observed high expression of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-12p40 in macrophages stimulated with TvDNA. In contrast, the anti-inflammatory response, assessed by IL-10 and IL-13 mRNA expression was delayed. This suggests that the immune response induced by TvDNA is modulated through cytokine production, mediated partly by NADPH-oxidase activity, as TvDNA induced reactive species of oxygen production and a rounded morphology in macrophages indicative of an M1 phenotype. Furthermore, infected mice pretreated with TvDNA displayed persistent vulvar inflammation and decreased parasite viability consistent with higher proinflammatory cytokine levels during infection compared to untreated mice. Overall, our findings suggest that TvDNA pretreatment modulates the immune response favouring parasite elimination.

Murine antibodies, raised against a purified recombinant 30 kDa laminin-binding protein from Echinococcus granulosus, were used to investigate the tissue distribution of the native protein in protoscoleces and brood capsules. Immunofluorescence, in combination with confocal microscopy, revealed that the protein was distributed in small annular foci near the peripheral regions of the protoscoleces. Immunoelectron microscopy of thawed cryosections demonstrated that the laminin-binding protein was present in the cytoplasm of tegumentary cytons and myocytons, but not in cells of the excretory system. The protein was associated with amorphous regions of the cytoplasm, and was not expressed at the surfaces of cells. This distribution resembles those of other invertebrate laminin-binding proteins, which are thought to act in the cell cycle and cell proliferation events. A low degree of label was consistently detected in extracellular matrices of the protoscolex.

Vector biology has become a fast moving field. Spurred on by the recent exciting advances in the molecular biology, genomics and latterly proteomics of vector insects and their pathogens, researchers are using new approaches and our knowledge is rapidly increasing. The second edition of this volume very much reflects these advances. The editor, William Marquardt, has assembled a team of section editors to oversee the production of 57 short chapters, divided into 7 parts. With a few exceptions, these experts are drawn from the USA, a reflection no doubt of the history of the first edition which was produced to accompany the Biology of Vector Disease course, given at Colorado State University. The text is aimed at post-graduate and post-doctoral researchers, working in a range of areas associated with vector biology and vector-borne diseases. It provides an excellent opportunity to obtain an initial overview of a new area or to dip into a field that may be peripheral to the topic under investigation.

The survival capacities of Muellerius capillaris (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) free-living larval stages (L1) of an Israeli desert isolate (Nubian isolate) (92 mm rain per annum) and a French isolate from a temperate habitat (650 mm rain per annum) were compared under humid and extreme dry conditions. Under the dry conditions (7% relative humidity [r.h.] and 33% r.h. at 23 °C), both isolates exhibited the same remarkable survival capacity for periods of 17 and 28 days, respectively (>92% survival, P>0·1). However, during and after recovery from the anhydrobiotic state, different behaviour patterns of L1 were observed in each isolate. Under humid conditions (97% r.h.) for 10 days, both isolates exhibited similarly low survival percentages (13·4±4·6%, S.E., survival for the Nubian isolate, 3±3% for the French isolate, P>0·05). In water, the French isolate was less active, survived better (52±8·4% vs 28·7±3·7, by day 28, P<0·05) and retained a better morphological appearance (shrunk less) than the Nubian isolate. Larval development of the French isolate in the land snail Theba pisana was significantly faster than that of the Nubian isolate, reaching a higher proportion of infective stages (L3) on day 36 post-infection (78·6% vs 56% P>0·05). However, similar infection intensities were recovered in snails infected with either of the isolates (59·8±10·3, S.E., n=14, for the French isolate, 53±6, n=13, for the Nubian isolate, P<0·05).

This comprehensive and thorough work of scholarship is dedicated to the memory of the great American mosquito systematist and biologist, John N. Belkin. Based on an original volume by Carpenter and La Casse, the new authors have added a further 31 species and have revised the original keys. The morphological terms used for adults are substantially revised and they have adopted the chaetotaxy for immature stages developed by Belkin and his colleagues. Species names identified in the keys are followed by a plate number that refers to distribution maps, some of which cover up to 4 species. Following an introduction, a 6-page section on systematics lists new species added to the fauna since 1955, those species resurrected from synonomy and, interestingly, 9 exotic species introduced including the notorious ‘Asian Tiger Mosquito’ Aedes albopictus. This invader was first detected in 1985 and, 20 years later, is now present in 26 states of the Eastern USA. Ochlerotatus, a new genus recently raised from subgeneric status, is discussed briefly, and the authors comment on siblings now recognized through molecular evaluation, for example in the Anopheles quadrimaculatus group. An encouragement for those wrestling with elucidating such complexes is found in the final commentary on this group which notes that, although molecular markers are available, the 5 siblings are now recognized morphologically in all life-stages. The section provides a useful systematic index in tabular form to the Culicidae of the region and their zoogeographic distribution.

The main text begins with the morphology of adult female mosquitoes and is followed by illustrated keys to generic level and then detailed keys to the species of each genus. Similar treatment of the fourth instar larvae follows, again providing illustrated keys.

An extensive bibliography to the topic is provided at the end of the book, with over 800 references.

For the dedicated mosquito worshipper! This book is undoubtedly a must and with its beautifully illustrated keys sets a high standard to follow. It will also, no doubt, prove an attractive volume for more general medical entomologists and enthusiastic students of these irksome, dangerous and fascinating animals.