HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Miller, A. Articles by Nichols, R. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Miller, A. Articles by Nichols, R. L.

The Fate of Helminth Eggs and Protozoan Cysts in Human Feces Ingested by Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)^*

The digestive tracts and excrement of dung beetles were examined after ingestion of human feces containing the eggs of hookworm, Ascaris, and whipworm, and cysts of Entamoeba coli, Endolimax, and Giardia. Practically no eggs and few cysts were recovered from Canthon laevis and C. vigilans, and no Ascaris larvae were found in the former after the ingestion of embryonated eggs. From Phanaeus vindex and Ph. igneus unaltered whipworm eggs and more cysts, but no hookworm and few Ascaris eggs, were recovered. Only Pinotus carolinus, the largest species, regularly contained and excreted ingested eggs. Recovered Ascaris eggs were decorticated and sometimes crushed, but many from the gut of Pinotus proved viable when incubated. Destruction of eggs and cysts is attributed to the grinding action of the beetles' mandibles, which is evidently least efficient in Pinotus. Although dung beetles may be significant in other ways in the dissemination of hookworm, the species most abundantly attracted to human stools destroy ingested eggs of this parasite and of Ascaris and do not transport them internally.

^* This investigation was supported in part by research grant G-4102 from the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service.