Introducing Alphitobius diaperinus, (Insecta: Tenebrionidae) as a New Intermediate Host of Hadjelia truncata (Nematoda)

Background: hadjelia truncata is a nematode that causes lesions in the gizzard lining of pigeons, which may even lead to death. the aim of this study was to introduce alphitobius diaperinus as a new intermediate host for hadjelia truncata. methods: h. truncata infection was identified in a pigeon flock in ahvaz city, khuzestan prov- ince, iran by performing fecal examination and autopsy. adult and larval stages of beetles were collected from the litter of pigeon houses, and identified morphologically. the beetle larvae were cultured in a medium, containing feces of the infected pigeons. nematode larval stages from na- turally and experimentally (culturally) infected adult beetles were fed to two groups of pigeons results: the collected beetles were identified as alphitobius diaperinus. average length and width of the adult beetles were 6.31 mm and 2.88 mm respectively. infection rates of naturally and ex- perimentally infected beetles with larval stages of the nematode were 66.2% and 45.1% respectively. the adult nematodes collected from gizzards of experimentally infected pigeons were iden- tified as h. truncata. nematode infection rates in pigeons after feeding the infective larvae collected from naturally and experimentally infected beetles were 44.7% and 32.5 % respectively. conclusion: a. diaperinus can serve as a natural intermediate host for h. truncata.