Life Cycle of Physaloptera rara Hall and Wigdor, 1918 (Nematoda: Spiruroidea) with the Cockroach, Blatella germanica, Serving as the Intermediate Host

Abstract

Present knowledge of the host-parasite relationship of the subfamily Physalopterinae is meager. In all probability, this is due, in part, to the lack of knowledge of the complete life cycle of any of these nematodes. Alicata (1937) fed embryonated eggs of Physaloptera turgida to the German cockroach, Blatella germanica, and recovered third-stage larvae 27 days after experimental infection. This third-stage larvae failed to survive in a dog, guinea pig or chick. Hobmaier (1941) was successful in recovering third-stage larvae of Physaloptera maxillaris from the German cockroach. Six weeks after feeding infected cockroaches to cats, dogs and guinea pigs no parasites were recovered. Meinkoth (in press) recently has been successful in completing the life cycle of Physaloptera turgida, using flour beetles of the genus Tribolium as the intermediate host. This paper reports the successful completion of the life cycle of Physaloptera rara Hall and Wigdor, 1918, a common parasite of the stomach and duodenum of dogs, cats and coyotes in the area of Manhattan, Kansas, using the German cockroach, Blatella germanica, as the intermediate host.