CHAPTER TWO 

 GENERAL LITERATURE REVIEW 



As a general reference to the microsporidia, the reader 

 is referred to the two volume monograph by Bulla and Cheng 

 (1976, 1977). These two volumes constitute the only recent 

 monograph on these protozoa. Earlier monographs on the 

 microsporidia were published by Kudo (1924) and Weiser (1961); 

 however, the development and recent extensive application 

 of electron microscopy to the study of microsporidia has 

 rendered these works largely obsolete. Since microsporidia 

 are little known to most entomologists and even protozoolo- 

 gists, a brief synopsis of their systematics and biology is 

 presented. A glossary of terms specifically used in the 

 study of microsporidia and abbreviations used in this disser- 

 tation has been included. 



Synopsis of the Microsporidia 

 Microsporidia are extremely small protozoa which are 

 obligate (lacking mitochondria), intracellular parasites of 

 invertebrate (primarily arthropod) and, less commonly, verte- 

 brate animals. Their life cycles include the production of 

 spores which contain a single sporoplasm and a long, coiled, 



