Resistance Potential of Certain Breeds of Domestic Fowl Exposed to Raillietina tetragona Infections

OF the several species of cestodes, infecting domestic fowls in Kerala, Raillietina tetragona (Molin, 1858), R. echinobothrida (Megnin, 1881) and Cotugnia digonopora (Pasquale, 1890) are of common occurrence. Life history studies by various workers (Horsfall, 1938; Chand, 1964b; Sawada, 1952a, b, 1953a; Reid and Nugara, 1961; Saran, 1966; and Mathur and Pande, 1969) have established the role of ants as the intermediate host for these tapeworms. Our studies on the biology and the host-parasite relationship of these tapeworms revealed that more than one species of ants serve as intermediate host for each of them. This paper deals with different species of ants, involved in the life cycle of R. tetragona, R. echinobothrida and C. digonopora, and the intensity and frequency of infection in them MATERIALS AND METHODS The following species of ants were collected from 25 poultry yards in Trivandrum during the period extending from July 1968 to March 1970;…