The louse fly Lipoptena paradoxa Newstead, 1907 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) : description of its adult and puparium and biology in South Africa

Lipoptena paradoxa Newstead, 1907 is re-described using scanning electron microscopy and its puparium is described for the first time. The distribution of the fly is restricted to the eastern half of South Africa, generally at altitudes below 600 m. Its preferred hosts are all browsing antelope namely, bushbuck, nyalas, kudus and common duikers. The largest numbers of flies were present on kudus in the Kruger National Park from July or August to January and large numbers were recovered from these animals' tails from November to January. Considerably more female than male flies were collected.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.National Museum, Bloemfontein. Foundation for Research Development.mn201

Solution structure of the complex between poxvirus-encoded CC chemokine inhibitor vCCI and human MIP-1β

Chemokines (chemotactic cytokines) comprise a large family of proteins that recruit and activate leukocytes, giving chemokines a major role in both immune response and inflammation-related diseases. The poxvirus-encoded viral CC chemokine inhibitor (vCCI) binds to many CC chemokines with high affinity, acting as a potent inhibitor of chemokine action. We have used heteronuclear multidimensional NMR to determine the structure of an orthopoxvirus vCCI in complex with a human CC chemokine, MIP-1β (macrophage inflammatory protein 1β). vCCI binds to the chemokine with 1:1 stoichiometry, forming a complex of 311 aa. vCCI uses residues from its β-sheet II to interact with a surface of MIP-1β that includes residues adjacent to its N terminus, as well as residues in the 20′s region and the 40′s loop. This structure reveals the strategy used by vCCI to tightly bind numerous chemokines while retaining selectivity for the CC chemokine subfamily

A check-list of the pentastomid parasites of crocodilians and freshwater chelonians

Based on published records and own data a summary is given of the geographical distribution of the currently known species of pentastomid parasites infecting crocodiles and alligators, as well as freshwater chelonians. A brief generic diagnosis is provided for each genus. Fourteen out of the currently 23 living crocodilian species have been recorded as being host to one or more pentastomes. Out of the 32 pentastome species six are considered species inquirendae. Presently, six genera of crocodilian pentastomes, Agema, Alofia, Leiperia, Sebekia, Selfia and Subtriquetra are recognized. African crocodiles harbour eight pentastome species, six of which have been recorded from the Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus. Three species belong to the genus Sebekia, Alofia being represented by two and Leiperia by only one species. Two species, Alofia parva and Agema silvaepalustris, occur in the dwarf crocodile, Osteolaemus tetraspis, and the slender-snouted crocodile, Crocodylus cataphractus, exclusively, but a single Sebekia species is shared with the Nile crocodile. The genus Agema is endemic to the African region. Infective stages of the pentastome Sub triquetra rileyi, thought to utilize Nile crocodiles as final hosts, have been recovered only from fishes. The largest number of pentastome species is found in the Australasian region. Of these, the Indo-Pacific croc odile, Crocodylus porosus, harbours seven, representing the genera Alofia, Sebekia, Lei peria and Selfia. Selfia is exclusive to the latter host. The genus Subtriquetra has been reported from "Indian crocodiles", a term possibly referring to either Crocodylus palustris, Crocodylus porosus or Gavialis gangeticus. Ten species of pentastomes parasitizing the crocodilian genera Alligator, Caiman, Crocodylus and Melanosuchus have been recorded from the Neotropical region including the southern states of the North American continent. The two most wide-spread pentastome genera, Alofia and Sebekia, have been recorded together with representatives of the genus Sub triquetra and immature and larval forms of Leiperia. To date the two monospecific genera, Pelonia, from two terrapin species, Pelusios sinuatus and Pelomedusa subrufa, in South Africa, and Diesingia from Hydraspis geoffroyana and Hydromedusa tectifera in South America, are the only chelonian pentastomes recovered world-wide. A possible exception is the crocodilian pentastome Sebekia mississippiensis which can reach maturity in exper imentally infected terrapins

Tetrameres <i>numida</i> n. sp. (Nematoda: Tetrameridae) from Helmeted guineafowls, <i>Numida meleagris</i> (Linnaeus, 1758), in South Africa

Tetrameres numida n. sp. from the proventriculus of Helmeted guinea fowls, Numida meleagris, in South Africa is described from eight male and four female specimens. The new species shares some characteristics with other Tetrameres species, but can be differentiated by a unique combination of characters. It bears two rows of cuticular spines extending over the whole length of the body and possesses two spicules. The left spicule measures 1 699-2 304 ?m and the right one 106-170 mm. Caudal spines are arranged in three ventral and three lateral pairs and the tail is 257-297 mm long. Diagnostic criteria of some of the previously described species of the genus Tetrameres from Africa and other parts of the world have been compiled from the literature and are included here

A check list of the helminths of guineafowls (Numididae) and a host list of these parasites

Published and personal records have been compiled into a reference list of the helminth parasites of guineafowls. Where data on other avian hosts was available these have been included for completeness' sake and to give an indication of host range. The parasite list for the Helmeted guineafowls, Numida meleagris, includes five species of acanthocephalans, all belonging to a single genus, three trematodes belonging to three different genera, 34 cestodes representing 15 genera, and 35 nematodes belonging to 17 genera. The list for the Crested guineafowls, Guttera edouardi, contains a single acanthocephalan together with 10 cestode species belonging to seven genera, and three nematode species belonging to three different genera. Records for two cestode species from genera and two nematode species belonging to a single genus have been found for the guineafowl genus Acryllium. Of the 70 helminths listed for N. meleagris, 29 have been recorded from domestic chickens

Parasites of South African wildlife. XVIII. <i>Cooperia pigachei<i/> n. sp. (Nematoda : Cooperiidae) from the mountain reedbuck, <i>Redunca fulvorufula<i/> (Afzelius, 1815)

A new species of Cooperia, for which the name Cooperia pigachei n. sp. is proposed, was recovered from a mountain reedbuck, Redunca fulvorufula, from the Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve, Free State Province, and is described and illustrated. It is close to Cooperia neitzi Mönnig, 1932 and the South African race of Cooperia rotundispiculum in having more than 14 longitudinal cuticular ridges and in that the lateral cervical synlophe is of the closed type. The new species differs from all the other species of the genus in that the lateral branches of the dorsal ray are large and T-shaped. The spicules are robust, over 0.3 mm long and have large, curved shoes on their tips

The life cycle of Charaxes marieps (Nymphalidae)

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