Turgida turgida (Rudolphi, 1819) Travassos, 1920
Turgidaturgida is a common parasite of the stomachs of opossums, Didelphisvirginiana and Didelphisparaguayensis, in North and South America. The life cycle is similar to that of various Physaloptera species with which it is closely related. The adults differ from Physaloptera spp. in that the female has typically 7 or more uterine branches whereas typcially only two uterine branches are present in the species of Physalotera found in cats.. Alicata (1937) showed that the German cockroach, Blatellagermanica, could serve as the first intermediate host of this parasite. Gay and Anderson (1982a and 1982b) used the field cricket, Achetapennsylvanicus, as the intermediate host of theis parasite. Alicata gave larvae to one cat and later found larvae in washings of the stomach of the cat at necropsy. On the other hand, Zago Filho (1958) and Gray and Anderson (1982b) were unable to infect cats with third-stage larvae that were infective to opossums.
REFERENCES:
Alicata JE. 1937. Larval development of the spirurid nematode Physalopteraturgida in the cockroach, Blatellagermanica. Papers on Helminthology Published in Commemoration of the 30th year jubileum KI Skrjabin and 15th Anniversary All-Union Institute of Helminthology, pages 11-14.
Gray JB, Anderson RC. 1982a. Observations on Turgidaturgida (Rudolphi, 1819) (Nematoda: Physalopteroidea) in the American opossum (Didelphisvirginiana). J Wild Dis 18:279-285.
Gray JB, Anderson RC. 1982. Development of Turgidaturgida (Rudolphi, 1819) (Nematoda: Physalopteroidea) in the American opossum (Didelphisvirginiana). Canad J Zool 60:1265-1274.
Zago Filho H. 1958. Contribuição para o conhecimento de hospedeiros intermediarios e definitivos da Turgidaturgida (Rud., 1819) Travassos, 1920 (Nematoda, Spiruroidea). Rev Brasil Biol 18:41-46.