Gnaptor spinimanus (Pallas, 1781)

Nazimov, Serhii, 2024, Gregarines of mass species of darkling beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) of Ukraine, Ecologica Montenegrina 73, pp. 26-38 : 32

Hosts: Gnaptor spinimanus (Pallas, 1781) .

Habitat: intestine.

Description: The epimerite may be longer than 150 µm. The protomerite is short, conical, widest at the base and tapering to the apical end. The deutomerite is long, widest at the point of contact with the protomerite. It ends in a slightly pointed cone. The nucleus is ellipsoidal and contains a pair of relatively large caryosomes. The ratio of the protomerite length to the total length of the gamont varies from 1:11 to 1:13. Morphological traits of gamonts are presented in Table 2.

Extensiveness and intensity of infestation: The average extensiveness of G. spinimanus infestation by this species of gregarine was 19.8%. The maximum total number of gregarine gamonts of this species in the body of one individual G. spinimanus was 9.

Literature records: Although this species is extremely common among European species of the genus Blaps , rich material was collected by Théodoridès in Iran (about 120 specimens), which allowed to clarify the morphological traits of some of its stages, in particular, cephalonts. The species was described in detail by Schneider (1884), Corbel (1971), Desportes (1969), Watson (1916) and Théodoridès (1961). It is recorded in Adesmia metallica , Blaps bifurcata , B. gibba , B. gigas , B. lusitanica , B. mortisaga , B. mucronata , B. persica , B. pterotapha , B. sulcata , Crypticus quisquilius , Morica planata , Pimelia rugosa , Prionychus ater and Scaurus tristis .

General distribution: Germany ( Schneider 1884), France, Israel ( Desportes 1969), Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt ( Corbel 1971), Iran ( Théodoridès 1961).