70 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



Another species (P. armillatus) with 22 rings has been found 

 in two African pythons, viz., regius and sebse. The adult 

 parasites infest these snakes taking up their habitat in the 

 lung. Ova are discharged, and probably infect the food or 

 drinking water of the intermediary hosts (man, tiger, leopard, 

 giraffe, mandrill, aardwolf, and hedgehog). The ova hatch 

 inside these animals, reach their larval stage only, and become 

 encysted in the liver, mesentery, and lungs. When an 

 intermediary host is eaten — there may be many more than 

 those enumerated above — the larval form reaches its furthest 

 development, taking up its habitat in the lung of the snake, 

 and the cycle of development is repeated. (Fig. 15.) 



Fig. 15. — Porocephalus armillatus. 

 (Life size.) (After Sambon.) 



These intestinal parasites are most detrimental to the 

 health of their hosts, and in some cases cause death. Fergu- 

 son says once all the pythons in one of the cages in the 

 Trivandrum gardens died, and on post-mortem examination 

 they were found to be infested with nematodes that had 

 perforated the walls of the stomach and intestines. 



(c) Haematozoa : Sambon discovered a blood parasite 

 (Hsemogregarina pococki) inhabiting the red blood cells of 

 this python. 



