The growth of Cooperia curticei (Giles, 1892), a nematode parasite of sheep

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Abstract
A growth curve of the parasitic stage of Cooperia curticei was drawn from measurements of worms collected from sheep between 2 and 22 days after infection. Exsheathed third-stage larvae did not grow during the first 48 hr. in the host. However, growth commenced between 48 and 72 hr. after infection, immediately prior to the third ecdysis. Following this ecdysis, the young fourth-stage larvae increased in length until the sixth day after infection, when growth ceased with the onset of the fourth lethargus. In most worms, this lethargus was terminated by the fourth ecdysis 8 days after infection. However, even in the oldest infections, late fourth-stage larvae were found which had been unable to enter the fifth stage. The first worms to reach the fifth stage ceased growth between 12 and 14 days after infection.