Hostname: page-component-68945f75b7-l9cl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-05T16:46:31.624Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experimental studies on the life-cycle of Raillietiella gigliolii (Pentastomida: Cephalobaenida) in the South American worm-lizard Amphisbaena alba: a unique interaction involving two insects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Judith M. Winch  and
J. Riley
Judith M. Winch
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland
J. Riley
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Raillietiella gigliolii is a cephalobaenid pentastomid which inhabits the lungs of the South American worm-lizard Amphisbaena alba. The host is a facultative inquiline of nests of the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes where it feeds occasionally (and possibly by accident) on ants but more often on beetles and their larvae which are themselves inquilines of ant nests. Ants store exhausted leaf-substrate in special underground chambers which serve as refuse dumps and it is here that larvae of the three-horned rhinoceros beetle Coetosis biloba feed: these larvae are also known to be prey items of A. alba. From observations of captive colonies of Atta, we have demonstrated that pentastomid-egg contaminated faeces of A. alba, introduced into the colony, are rapidly cut up and thrown onto the refuse dump, where, under natural circumstances they will be eaten by Coelosis. These larvae have an unusual and highly specialized gut physiology and parasite eggs will develop to an infective stage within the haemocoel in 70–96 days. Cockroaches are refractory to infection. Ants are the vital link in transmission since they literally deliver eggs to the Coelosis larvae. The strong trophic links which exist between the various components of the life-cycle offset a low fecundity of 100 eggs/female parasite/day but nonetheless maintain a high prevalence (86%) of infection.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , December 1985 , pp. 471 - 481
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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

Ali, J. H. & Riley, J. (1983). Experimental life-cycle studies of Raillietiella gehyrae Bovien, 1927 and Raillietiella frenatus Ali, Riley & Self, 1981: pentastomid parasites of geckos utilizing insects as intermediate hosts. Parasitology 86, 147–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ali, J. H., Riley, J. & Self, J. T. (1981). A revision of the taxonomy of the blunt-hooked Raillietiella, pentastomid parasites of African, South East Asian and Indonesian lizards, with a description of a new species. Systematic Parasitology 3, 193–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ali, J. H., Riley, J. & Self, J. T. (1984). A revision of the taxonomy of pentastomid parasites (genus Raillietiella Sambon, 1910) from American snakes and amphisbaenians. Systematic Parasitology 6, 87–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ali, J. H., Riley, J. & Self, J. T. (1985). A review of the taxonomy and systematics of the pentastomid genus Raillietiella Sambon, 1910 with a description of a new species. Systematic Parasitology (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banaja, A. A., James, J. L. & Riley, J. (1976). Some observations on egg production and autoreinfection of Reighardia sternae (Diesing, 1864), a pentastomid parasite of the herring gull. Parasitology 72, 81–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bellairs, A. D‘A. & Gans, C. (1983). A reinterpretation of the amphisbaenian orbitosphenoid. Nature, London 302, 243–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherrett, J. M. & Peregrine, D. J. (1976). A review of the status of leaf-cutting ants and their control. Annals of Applied Biology 84, 124–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowson, R. A. (1981). Food, digestion and the alimentary canal. In The Biology of the Coleoptera, pp. 160–183. London: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diesing, K. M. (1835). Versuch einer Monographie der Gattung Pentastoma. Annalen des Wiener Museums der Naturgeschichte 1, 1–32.Google Scholar
Esslinger, J. H., (1962). Morphology of the egg and larva of Porocephalus crotali (Pentastomida). Journal of Parasitology 48, 457–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Esslinger, J. H., (1968). Morphology of the egg and larva of Raillietiella furcocerca (Pentastomida) from a Columbian snake (Clelia clelia). Journal of Parasitology 54, 411–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gans, C. (1962). Notes on amphisbaenids (Amphisbaena, Reptilia). 5. A redefinition and bibliography of Amphisbaena alba Linne. American Museum Novitates 2105, 1–31.Google Scholar
Gans, C. (1975). Tetrapod limblessness: evolution and functional corollaries. American Zoologist 15, 455–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gans, C. (1978). The characteristics and affinities of the Amphisbaenia. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 34, 347–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorzula, S., Salazar, C. & Rendon, D. (1975). Aspects of the ecology of Amphisbaena alba Linnaeus in the Venezuelan Guyana. British Journal of Herpetology 5, 623–6.Google Scholar
Holter, P. (1974). Food utilization by dung eating Aphodius larvae (Scarabaeidae). Oikos 25, 71–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hett, M. (1924). On the family Linguatulidae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1, 107–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavoipierre, M. M. J. & Lavoipierre, M. (1966). An arthropod intermediate host of a pentastomid. Nature, London 210, 845–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mariconi, F. A. M. (1970). As Sauvas. Editoria Agronomica ’Ceres‘, LTDA. pp. 167.Google Scholar
Quinlan, R. J. & Cherrett, J. M. (1978). studies on the role of the infrabuccal pocket of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Hym., Formicidae). Insects Sociaux 25, 237–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rego, A. A. (1983). Pentastomideos de repteis do Brasil: revisâo dos Cephalobaenidae. Memoires Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 78, 399–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, J. (1981). An experimental investigation of the development of Porocephalus crotali (Pentastomida: Porocephalida) in the western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). International Journal for Parasitology 11, 127–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soo Hoo, C. F. & Dudzinski, A. (1967). Digestion by the Pruinose Scarab Sericesthis geminata. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 10, 7–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stahel, G. & Geijskes, D. C. (1939). Ueber den Bau der Nester von Atta cephalotes L. und Atta sexdens L. (Hymn., Formicidae). Revista de Entomologia 10, 27–78.Google Scholar
Vanzolini, P. E. (1955). Contribuçoes as conhecinento dos lagartos brasilieros da familia Amphisbaenidae Gray 1825. Distribuiçâo geographica e biometrica de. Amphisbaena alba Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro 142, 683–705.Google Scholar
Von Haffner, K. & Rack, G. (1971). Beitrag zur Anatomie, Entwicklung und systematischen Stellung der Cephalobaena tetrapoda Heymons, 1922 (Pentastomida). Zoologische Jahrbücher Anatomie 88, 505–26.Google Scholar
Weber, N. A. (1972). Gardening ants, the Attines. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. pp. 146.Google Scholar