Tetrameres sp. (Nematoda: Spiruridae) Found in Pigeons (Columba livia) in Kansas and Oklahoma

Tetrameres fissispina has been recognized for many years (8) as a parasite of the proventriculus of the fowl, pigeon, duck, and other water birds in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere except the U.S. Cram described Tetrameres americana from the United States. She found natural infections in chickens (Gallus gallus) and in bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus), and reported experimental infection of chickens, ducks, pigeons, quail and ruffed grouse. She commented, "Natural infestations of bobwhite quail with T. americana have been noted, but the present report of the experimental infestations in the ruffed grouse and pigeons, appears to be the first observation of this parasite in these hosts." She described (4,6) the life cycle which involved orthopterans as intermediate hosts. Elsewhere, Cram (5) described the life cycle of Tetrameres pattersoni, a parasite of the quail, and reported no success in her attempt to infect a pigeon with it; however, the pigeon used in the experiment was an adult bird, which she thought might have been responsible for the negative results. Various species of Tetrameres have been described from a variety of hosts representing many parts of the world, including South America, Australia, India, Paraguay, Italy, and other countries, e.g., Tetrameres sp. from the Florida grackle (Quiscalus quiscalus) (12), and T. americana from the Eastern Cardinal (Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis) in Missouri (7) and from turkeys in New Jersey (1). In 1942 Romboli reported infection of pigeons with T. fissispina and stated that insufficient function of the stomach apparently killed the infected bird (10). Bechade and Bechade (2) recorded an outbreak of Tetrameres in a flock of pigeons which oc