Life cycle ofTrichostrongylus retortaeformisin its natural host, the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

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Abstract
The chronology of the life cycle ofTrichostrongylus retortaeformis(Zeder, 1800) (Nematoda, Trichostrongyloidea) is studied in its natural hostOryctolagus cuniculus. The free living period lasted 5 days at 24°C. Worm-free rabbits were each infectedper oswithT. retortaeformislarvae. Rabbits were killed at 12 h post-infection (p.i.) and every day from one day to 13 days p.i. By 12 h p.i., all the larvae were exsheathed and in the small intestine. The third moult occurred between 3 and 5 days p.i. and the last moult between 4 and 7 days p.i. The prepatent period lasted 12 to 13 days. The patent period lasted five and a half months. The four known life cycles of species ofTrichostrongylusin ruminants were compared with that ofT. retortaeformis. No significant difference was found except in the duration of the prepatent period. These similarities in the life cycles confirm the previously formulated hypotheses on the relationship between the parasites of the two host groups ().