Record of a gregarine (Apicomplexa: Neogregarinida) in the abdomen of the termite Coptotermes gestroi (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae).
Coptotermes gestroi is an exotic species of termite that is a pest of great economical importance in Brazil. This paper relates the occurrence of a coelomic gregarine (Apicomplexa: Neogregarinida) in the abdomen of the foraging workers recently collected from field colonies of this termite. The termite hosts presented large, white abdomens because they carried 1 up to 3 cysts of gregarines filled with numerous lemon-shaped spores. Earlier developmental stages of this gregarine were not observed in the scanning microscope preparations nor in the histological slides of the infected termites. However, the lemon-shaped spores suggest a parasite gregarine of Mattesia genus, family Lipotrophidae.
Costa-Leonardo
Ana Maria
AM
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), IB, Departamento de Biologia, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil. amcl@rc.unesp.br
Casarin
Fabiana E
FE
Constantini
Joice P
JP
D034841:Abdominal Cavity / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001938:Brazil; D020049:Isoptera / Q000469:parasitology*; D033761:Spores, Protozoan / Q000648:ultrastructure