Sex differences in frass production and weight change in Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera) infected with cysticercoids of the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda)

Increased coprophagic activity of the beetle, Tenebrio molitor, on feces containing eggs of the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta.

When provided with fecal pellets from uninfected (control) rats and rats infected with the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta, more fed and starved (72 h) female and starved male Tenebrio molitor fed on fecal pellets from infected- than from control rats; compared to fecal pellets from controls rats, fed males avoided the infective fecal pellets. Uninfective and infective fecal pellets had similar m...

Do male and female beetles (Tenebrio molitor) respond differently to rat feces containing eggs from the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta?

Males and females often differ in their susceptibility and exposure to infection. Thus, they may also differ in their ability to avoid infection. The beetle, Tenebrio molitor, risks infection with cysticercoids when ingesting rat feces containing eggs of the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta. Previous studies demonstrated that beetles sometimes prefer infective feces suggesting that the tapeworm i...

Efficacy of condensed tannins against larval Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda) in vitro and in the intermediate host Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera) in vivo.

Natural anti-parasitic compounds in plants such as condensed tannins (CT) have anthelmintic properties against a range of gastrointestinal nematodes, but for other helminths such effects are unexplored. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of CT from three different plant extracts in a model system employing the rat tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta, in its intermediate host, Tenebrio m...

Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Hymenolepis diminuta Cysticercoid and Adult Stages

Cestodiases are common parasitic diseases of animals and humans. As cestodes have complex lifecycles, hexacanth larvae, metacestodes (including cysticercoids), and adults produce proteins allowing them to establish invasion and to survive in the hostile environment of the host. Hymenolepis diminuta is the most commonly used model cestode in experimental parasitology. The aims of the present stu...

Efficacy of condensed tannins against larval Hymenolepis diminuta ( Cestoda ) in 1 vitro and in the intermediate host Tenebrio molitor ( Coleoptera ) in vivo