Abstract
Cerebral larvae ofDicrocoelium dendriticum andD. hospes and the brains of infected ants were studied. Morphologic differences of the freed larvae could not be found, but there were evident differences in number and localization of the cerebral stages. Ants infected withD. dendriticum usually showed one “Hirnwurm” while in the majority of the ants infected withD. hospes two larvae were found.
The typical localization of the “Hirnwurm” ofD. dendriticum was in the ventral part of the subesophageal ganglion; almost every larva ofD. hospes was found in the dorsal part of an antennal lobe. The cyst walls of the larvae were visible only in some specimens. Their thickness seemed to depend on the localization of the larva. Differences in number and localization of the larvae, and hypothetical mechanisms how they could influence the behavior of their hosts are discussed.
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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. G. Piekarski on his 70th birthday
Supported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft given to one of us (W. Frank)
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Romig, T., Lucius, R. & Frank, W. Cerebral larvae in the second intermediate host ofDicrocoelium dendriticum (Rudolphi, 1819) andDicrocoelium hospes looss, 1907 (Trematodes, Dicrocoeliidae). Z. Parasitenkd. 63, 277–286 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00931990
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00931990