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Impairment of the chemical defence of the beetle, Tenebrio molitor, by metacestodes (cysticercoids) of the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 1997

C. L. BLANKESPOOR ,
P. W. PAPPAS  and
T. EISNER
C. L. BLANKESPOOR
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA
P. W. PAPPAS
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
T. EISNER
Affiliation:
Section of Neurobiology and Behaviour, Mudd Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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Abstract

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The defensive glands of beetles, Tenebrio molitor, infected with metacestodes (cysticercoids) of Hymenolepis diminuta are everted less frequently upon stimulation, and contain less toluquinone (methylbenzoquinone) and m-cresol, than glands of uninfected controls. These differences, as shown in predation trials with wild rats, increase the likelihood that both cysticercoids and beetles will be ingested by the tapeworm's definitive host. This is the first documented case of a parasite inhibiting the chemical defence of an intermediate host, and one of only a few reports of parasite-induced manipulation of host biology supported by empirical evidence implicating facilitated parasite transmission between host species.

Keywords

Hymenolepis diminutaTenebrio molitorchemical defenceparasite transmissionparasite-host interactionpredation
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 115 , Issue 1 , July 1997 , pp. 105 - 110
Copyright
1997 Cambridge University Press