Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T12:16:33.047Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rehydration methods to recover cysticercoids of the rat tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta from dry flour beetle carcasses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2016

H.M.-H. Chin ,
L.T. Luong  and
A.W. Shostak
H.M.-H. Chin
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
L.T. Luong
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
A.W. Shostak*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
*
*E-mail: ashostak@ualberta.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Terrestrial arthropods host a variety of helminth parasites, yet quantifying the intensity of infection in these hosts post-mortem is challenging because carcasses may desiccate quickly. We recovered cysticercoids of Hymenolepis diminuta from desiccated flour beetle (Tribolium confusum) carcasses by modifying a published insect rehydration procedure. Without rehydration, carcasses dissected more than 1 day post-mortem had noticeable degradation of cysticercoids. Mild rehydration (soaking in water only for 2 days, or 0.5–10% KOH for 1 h followed by 1 day in water, or 0.5% KOH for 1 day) left carcasses tough and time-consuming to dissect, but all parasites could be recovered and were similar in body size to fresh cysticercoids. Moderate rehydration (5–10% KOH for 1 day) allowed all parasites to be recovered and facilitated dissection by partially dissolving internal organs of the beetle while causing little degradation of the cysticercoids. Harsh rehydration (5–10% KOH for 1 day followed by 5 days in water) not only dissolved internal beetle tissues but also severely damaged cysticercoids, such that parasite counts were unreliable. The degree of initial carcass desiccation had little effect on results following rehydration. However, regardless of treatment used, intact cercomers were rarely retained on rehydrated cysticercoids. Rehydration was less successful on early developmental stages of the parasite, which were recovered reliably only as they neared the cysticercoid stage. This method has utility for studies of parasite-induced mortality by permitting accurate and reliable parasite counts from dead, desiccated hosts.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 91 , Issue 4 , July 2017 , pp. 470 - 478
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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

Anderson, R.M. & May, R.M. (1978) Regulation and stability of host–parasite population interactions. I. Regulatory processes. Journal of Animal Ecology 47, 219–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benesh, D.P. (2011) Intensity-dependent host mortality: what can it tell us about larval growth strategies in complex life cycle helminths? Parasitology 138, 913–925.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benesh, D.P. & Valtonen, E.T. (2007) Effects of Acanthocephalus lucii (Acanthocephala) on intermediate host survival and growth: implications for exploitation strategies. Journal of Parasitology 93, 735–741.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crofton, H.D. (1971) A quantitative approach to parasitism. Parasitology 62, 179–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forrester, D.J. (1971) Heligmosomoides polygyrus (=Nematospiroides dubius) from wild rodents of northern California: natural infections, host specificity, and strain characteristics. Journal of Parasitology 57, 498–503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goater, C.P. & Ward, P.I. (1992) Negative effects of Rhabdias bufonis (Nematoda) on the growth and survival of toads (Bufo bufo). Oecologia 89, 161–165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gordon, D.M. & Whitfield, P.J. (1985) Interactions of the cysticercoids of Hymenolepis diminuta and Raillietina cesticillus in their intermediate host, Tribolium confusum . Parasitology 90, 421–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayes, T.J., Bailer, J. & Mitrovic, M. (1973) The pattern of mortality in mice experimentally infected with Fasciola hepatica . International Journal for Parasitology 3, 665–669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heyneman, D. & Voge, M. (1971) Host response of the flour beetle, Tribolium confusum, to infections with Hymenolepis diminuta, H. microstoma, and H. citelli (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae). Journal of Parasitology 57, 881–886.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, P.J., Newborn, D. & Dobson, A.P. (1992) Regulation and stability of a free-living host–parasite system: Trichostrongylus tenuis in Red Grouse. I. Monitoring and population reduction experiments. Journal of Animal Ecology 61, 477–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keymer, A. (1980) The influence of Hymenolepis diminuta on the survival and fecundity of the intermediate host, Tribolium confusum . Parasitology 81, 405–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Korunic, Z. (1998) Diatomaceous earths, a group of natural insecticides. Journal of Stored Products Research 34, 87–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lester, R.J.G. (1977) An estimate of the mortality in a population of Perca flavescens owing to the trematode Diplostomum adamsi . Canadian Journal of Zoology 55, 288–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manga-González, M.Y. & González-Lanza, C. (2005) Field and experimental studies on Dicrocoelium dendriticum and dicrocoeliasis in northern Spain. Journal of Helminthology 79, 291–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, A.G. (1967) The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouché, 1835) as an intermediate host for cestodes. Parasitology 57, 419–430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
May, R.M. & Anderson, R.M. (1978) Regulation and stability of host–parasite population interactions. II. Destabilizing processes. Journal of Animal Ecology 47, 249–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puchtler, H., Waldrop, F.S., Conner, H.M. & Terry, M.S. (1968) Carnoy fixation: practical and theoretical considerations. Histochemie 16, 361–371.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rigaux, M., Haubruge, E. & Fields, P.G. (2001) Mechanisms for tolerance to diatomaceous earth between strains of Tribolium castaneum . Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 101, 33–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, L.S. & Janovy, J. Jr (2009) Foundations of parasitology. 8th edn. 701 pp. Boston, McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Rumbos, C.I. & Athanassiou, C.G. (2012) Insecticidal effect of six entomopathogenic nematode strains against Lasioderma serricorne (F.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) and Tribolium confusum Jacqueline du Val (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Journal of Stored Products Research 50, 21–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutgens, M., Cook, B., Gilbert, F. & Behnke, J.M. (2015) Behavioural changes in the flour beetle Tribolium confusum infected with the spirurid nematode Protospirura muricola . Journal of Helminthology 89, 68–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, D.J. & Dobson, A.P. (1995) Patterns of macroparasite abundance and aggregation in wildlife populations. Parasitology 111, S111–S133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shostak, A.W. (2009) Tapeworm (Hymenolepis diminuta) infection in flour beetles (Tribolium confusum): does it cause a trade-off between host fecundity and egg size? Canadian Journal of Zoology 87, 1087–1095.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shostak, A.W. (2014) Hymenolepis diminuta infections in tenebrionid beetles as a model system for ecological interactions between helminth parasites and terrestrial intermediate hosts: a review and meta-analysis. Journal of Parasitology 100, 46–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shostak, A.W., Walsh, J.G. & Wong, Y.C. (2006) Shape variation of cysticercoids of Hymenolepis diminuta (Cyclophyllidea) from fed, partially fed and fasted Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera). Journal of Parasitology 92, 756–763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shostak, A.W., Walsh, J.G. & Wong, Y.C. (2008) Manipulation of host food availability and use of multiple exposures to assess the crowding effect on Hymenolepis diminuta in Tribolium confusum . Parasitology 135, 1019–1033.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shostak, A.W., Van Buuren, K.G. & Cook, R. (2015) Response of flour beetles to multiple stressors of parasitic (Hymenolepis diminuta), environmental (diatomaceous earth), and host (reproduction) origin. Journal of Parasitology 101, 405–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ungureanu, E.M. (1972) Methods for dissecting dry insects and insects preserved in fixative solutions or by refrigeration. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 47, 239–244.Google ScholarPubMed
Voge, M. & Heyneman, D. (1957) Development of Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) in the intermediate host Tribolium confusum . University of California Publications in Zoology 59, 549–579.Google Scholar
Wedekind, C. (1997) The infectivity, growth, and virulence of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus in its first intermediate host, the copepod Macrocyclops albidus . Parasitology 115, 317–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woolsey, I.D., Fredensborg, B.L., Jensen, P.M., Kapel, C.M.O. & Meyling, N.V. (2015) An insect–tapeworm model as a proxy for anthelminthic effects in the mammalian host. Parasitology Research 114, 2777–2780.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed