title: Ground beetle, Opatroides frater (Coleoptera) as natural intermediate host for the poultry tapeworm, Raillietina cesticillus.
abstract: Poultry farms in and around Namakkal with a history of tapeworm infection were surveyed for the presence of beetles which could act as intermediate host for the tapeworms. Beetles collected from different poultry farms with suspected tapeworm infection were examined for the presence of metacestode stage of the parasite. A total of 1,880 beetles were collected from 12 poultry farms with suspected tapeworm infection to study the vector potentiality. Out of these, 205 beetles (10.9 %) from nine farms were found to harbour cysticercoids. The percentage of cysticercoid infection in beetles was 8.24, 10.34 and 16.66 % respectively in three different surveys. The beetles harbouring the cysticercoids were identified as Opatroides frater, which may be a natural intermediate host for Raillietina cesticillus. Infection free young chicks (4 weeks old) were experimentally infected with specific number of cysticercoids and prepatent period of tapeworms was found to be between 12 and 13 days. Gravid segments were expelled between 3 and 4 p.m. consistently. The results of this study would help to formulate suitable control measures against the above tapeworm infection.
authors: Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, 637 002 India.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Velusamy
authors: Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai, 600007 India.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Abdul Basith
authors: Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, 637 002 India.
authors: T J
authors: TJ
authors: Harikrishnan
authors: Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, 637 002 India.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Ponnudurai
authors: Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, 637 002 India.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Anna
authors: Department of Livestock Production and Management, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, 637 002 India.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Ramakrishnan
keywords: Beetle; Opatroides fater; Poultry tapeworm; Raillietina cesticillus