Ectoparasite-free, SPF Italian Wistar rats were consistently found to carry a latent infection with Haemobartonella muris, activable by splen ectomy. In an inbred line this diminished and eventually ceased in six generations. Experimental infection from wild rats demonstrated that this was not apparently due to immunity.

The Japanese observers Ido, Hoki, Ito and Wani (1916) state that in Infectious Jaundice the infective organism—the Spirochaeta icterohaemorrhagiae—is transmitted probably from rats to man by means of the urine of rats, directly or indirectly.

Experiments to investigate the linked metabolism of L-serine and L-alanine by Moniliformis moniliformis in vitro were carried out by incubating adult worms aerobically for 3 h at 37 °C in Tyrode’s solution containing L-[U-14C]alanine and other amino acids. When present in the medium alone, alanine was totally removed by the worms and metabolized almost entirely to ethanol and a compound identified as carbon dioxide. When present in the medium with serine and no other amino acids, alanine was largely metabolized as before but additional alanine, believed to originate from serine, was excreted. The same results were obtained with serine and 16 other amino acids in the incubation medium.

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan intracellular protozoan parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, a disease with considerable medical and economic impact worldwide. Toxoplasma gondii cells never lose the nuclear envelope and their chromosomes do not condense. Here, we tested the murine monoclonal antibody PL2-6, which labels epichromatin (a conformational chromatin epitope based on histones H2A and H2B complexed with DNA), in T. gondii cultured in human fibroblasts. This epitope is present at the exterior chromatin surface of interphase nuclei and on the periphery of mitotic chromosomes in higher eukaryotes. PL2-6 reacted with T. gondii H2A and H2B histones in Western blot (WB) assays. In addition, the antibody reacted with the nuclear fraction of tachyzoites, as a single band coincident with H2B histone. In the T. gondii tachyzoite stage, PL2-6 also had peripheral nuclear localization, as observed by epifluorescence/confocal microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy. Confocal analysis showed that epichromatin is slightly polarized to one face of the parasite exterior chromatin surface. In replicating tachyzoites, PL2-6 also labels the exterior chromatin surface, covering the face of both segregating nuclei, facing the plasma membrane of the mother cell. The possible role of epichromatin in T. gondii is discussed.

Habitat and record. The animal under consideration, a copepod of the Family Caligidae, has up to the present received three notices: by Norman and T. Scott (1906), A. Scott (1907), and T. and A. Scott (1913). (For further particulars see References at end of this paper, p. 409.) Norman and Scott stated that “the specimens were taken forty years ago on the dory by Laughrin, and by him sent to A. M. N.” Consequently, the specimens were forty years old before they were described, which would, even in the absence of other reasons, excuse a little scepticism as to the description. Scott gives a bare record of capture, with a copy of Norman and Scott's diagrams. These diagrams and the original of Norman and Scott are republished by Scott and Scott with the addition of a few errors. Considering these facts, and also that no satisfactory description is given of the appendages of the male, or of the maxillae or swimming legs of the female, and that the animal is very common, occurring on nearly every dory, I feel that there is some justification for a further description.

In October, 1934, several specimens of a tick belonging to the genus Ornithodoros were forwarded to the Bureau of Animal Industry for identification by Drs William Thompson and N. E. Dutro. These ticks were first observed by Mr F. E. Swan of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine in a carload of bat guano originating at Linares, Mexico, and held in quarantine at Matamoros, Mexico.

Antibodies at gastrointestinal mucosal membranes play a vital role in immunological protection against a range of pathogens, including helminths. Gastrointestinal health is central to efficient livestock production, and such infections cause significant losses. Fecal samples were taken from 114 cattle, across three beef farms, with matched blood samples taken from 22 of those animals. To achieve fecal antibody detection, a novel fecal supernatant was extracted. Fecal supernatant and serum samples were then analysed, using adapted enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay protocols, for levels of total immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgG, IgM, and Teladorsagia circumcincta-specific IgA, IgG, IgM and IgE (in the absence of reagents for cattle-specific nematode species). Fecal nematode egg counts were conducted on all fecal samples. Assays performed successfully and showed that IgA was the predominant antibody in fecal samples, whereas IgG was predominant in serum. Total IgA in feces and serum correlated within individuals (0.581, P = 0.005), but other Ig types did not. Results support the hypothesis that the tested protocols are an effective method for the non-invasive assessment of cattle immunology. The method could be used as part of animal health assessments, although further work is required to interpret the relationship between results and levels of infection and immunity.

The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, is currently the most common ectoparasite affecting egg-laying hens. Since continuous culture of D. gallinae on birds is a biologically and economically costly endeavour, storage techniques for mites are urgently needed. Effects of temperature on adult and nymph survival were first studied to optimize storage conditions. Then, fecundity of D. gallinae was studied after mites were stored at optimal storage conditions. Results showed the survival rates of protonymphs (42.11%), deutonymphs (8.19%) and females (19.78%) at 5°C after 84 days were higher than those at 0, 25 and 30°C. Thereafter the fecundity and the capability of re-establishing colonies of D. gallinae were evaluated after they were stored for 40 and 80 days at 5°C. After storage, the mean number of eggs showed no statistical difference between treated (5°C for 40 or 80 days) and control groups (25°C for 7 days), while the hatching rates of eggs were in all cases above 97%. The dynamic changes of mite populations and egg numbers showed similar trends to the control group after the stored adult or nymph mites were fed on chicks. Dermanyssus gallinae can be successfully stored at 5°C for 80 days with no interference with the fecundity of mites, and the stored mites could re-establish colonies successfully. Adults and nymphs were two main stages with capability for low temperature storage. These results suggest that low temperature storage is a viable option for colony maintenance of D. gallinae under laboratory conditions.

Brugia malayi is one of the parasitic worms which causes lymphatic filariasis in humans. Its geographical distribution includes a large part of Asia. Despite its wide distribution, very little is known about the genetic variation and molecular epidemiology of this species. In this study, the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) nucleotide sequences of B. malayi from microfilaria-positive human blood samples in Northeast Borneo Island were determined, and compared with published ITS1 sequences of B. malayi isolated from cats and humans in Thailand. Multiple alignment analysis revealed that B. malayi ITS1 sequences from Northeast Borneo were more similar to each other than to those from Thailand. Phylogenetic trees inferred using Neighbour-Joining and Maximum Parsimony methods showed similar topology, with 2 distinct B. malayi clusters. The first cluster consisted of Northeast Borneo B. malayi isolates, whereas the second consisted of the Thailand isolates. The findings of this study suggest that B. malayi in Borneo Island has diverged significantly from those of mainland Asia, and this has implications for the diagnosis of B. malayi infection across the region using ITS1-based molecular techniques.

Two species of chondracanthid copepods Acanthochondria platycephali Heegaard, 1940 and Pterochondria alatalongicollis Heegaard, 1940 are described. The latter was described by Heegaard as Acanthochondria platycephali f. alata-longicollis. However, it is placed in a new genus, based on the studies of type specimen and new material. A discussion on the other species of Acanthocondria parasitic on the flathead is given. It is suggested that A. bulbosus Heegaard, 1943, is synonymous with A. tchangi Y¨, 1935, and A. diastema Kabata, 1965, with Pterochondria alatalongicollis.

The adults of Rhipicephalus pravus were first described very briefly by Dönitz, in 1910, from specimens collected from buffalo, giraffe and various antelopes on the Masai Steppe in Tanganyika. He did not designate any specific specimens as types. He compared the species with R. oculatus, but stated that the difference in the structure of the eyes of the two forms, which he described in detail, was so marked that he considered it to be specific. He also commented on the fact that the males of R. pravus are often strikingly narrow anteriorly, but added that this is not a decisive character. Zumpt (1942) redescribed the adults in detail from material collected in the Tanganyika highlands (Arusha, Kilimatinde, Kondoa-Irangi, Mkalama, Morogoro and Mpwapwa), in Kenya (Mt. Nyro and Mt. Loroghi) and in Abyssinia (Diredawa). Theiler & Robinson (1953) gave descriptions of adults collected at Fairmount, Edenburg, Orange Free State and of nymphae and larvae bred from them in the laboratory. They also discussed the biology, distribution and synonymy of the species. The following descriptions of the adults, nymph and larva are based on laboratory-bred specimens, the progeny of a female collected at Kima, approximately 90 miles south-east of Nairobi.

Four specimens of the pika (Ochotona rufescens Gray) were captured, and on dissection three of them were found to be heavily infested with a Nematode worm in the large intestine.

The man in-the-street who frequently asks the question “Why am I here?” finds even more difficulty with the question “Why are parasites here?” The public's distaste for parasites (and by implication, for parasitologists!) is therefore understandable, as maybe was the feeling of early 20th century biologists that parasites were a puzzle because they did not conform to the then widely held association between evolution and progress, let alone the reason why a benevolent Creator should have created them. In mid-century, the writer, contemplating a career in parasitology was taken aback when he found that extolled contemporary biologists disdained parasites or thought little of parasitology as an intellectual subject. These attitudes reflected a lack of appreciation of the important role of parasites in generating evolutionary novelty and speciation, also unawareness of the value of parasite life-cycle studies for formulating questions of wider significance in biology, deficiencies which were gratifyingly beginning to be remedied in the latter half of the century.

The larvae described in this paper were obtained in 1916 by Major C. E. Southon, I.M.S., from a case of intestinal myiasis observed by him in Nairobi (British East Africa). These larvae were sent to Professor J. H. Ashworth and referred to me by Dr G. A. K. Marshall of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology.

To model the colonization of a novel host by fleas, Synosternus cleopatrae and Xenopsylla ramesis, we established experimental lines maintained for 15 generations on a principal or a novel host (either co-occurring with a flea or not). We compared the blood meal size and the energy expended for digestion by fleas from the 15th generation of each line on these hosts between hosts within a line and between lines within a host asking (a) whether fleas adapt to a novel host (increased blood consumption/decreased energy expended for digestion); (b) if yes, whether this adaptation leads to the loss of ability to exploit an original host, and (c) whether the success of adaptation to a novel host depends on its ecological co-occurrence with a flea. The blood consumption and digestion energetics of fleas fed on the principal host differed from those on other hosts. The effect of the principal host on feeding performance differed between fleas, with S. cleopatrae consuming less blood and expending more energy for digestion on the principal than on any other host, whereas the opposite was true for X. ramesis. No changes in feeding performance on a novel host over generations were found. We propose several explanations for the lack of adaptation to a novel host over time. We explain the poor performance of S. cleopatrae on its principal host via its immune response mounting pattern. We argue that the principal host of a parasite is not necessarily the host on which the parasite demonstrates the best performance.