On the Intracellular Stage of 



Gregarina pol y m orpha. 



By 



Sliiureiui Tsliii, Rigakushi. 



The meal-worms 1 of Japan, as those of Europe, lodge three poly- 

 cystic! gregarines in the intestine, viz., Gregarina polymorpha, G. 

 cuneata and Steinia oralis (var. ?). In the intestinal epithelium are 

 frequently found various intracellular developmental stages of a gre- 

 garine, which may be identified as those of Gregarina polymorpha on 

 the following data : (a) Of the three species found in the intestine of 

 the meal-worm, Gregarina polymorpha is the commonest ; (b) whenever 

 the epithelium contains intracellular gregarines, free Gregarina poly- 

 morpha is almost always found in the intestinal lumen also, the two 

 other species being often entirely absent ; (c) striking similarity in 

 morphological characters between the full-grown intracellular gregarines 

 and the smallest free examples of G. polymorpha, while the other 

 species are each distinguishable from that species by characteristic 

 features of their own. 



The observation of the intracellular stages is, I think, of some 

 interest, since their occurrence in polycystid gregarines has been general- 

 ly believed to be a very rare or exceptional circumstance. LÉGER and 

 DUBOSCQ 2 , as the result of their recent studies, have come even to the 

 conclusion that no such stage exists in Gregarina polymorpha, and 



1) Our meal-worm is closely related to Tenebria moritor, only differing from this in 

 having one posterior process in the last segment instead of two, in being less hairy over the 

 body, etc. 



2) Léger et Duboscq, '04. — Nouvelles recherches sur les gregarines et l'épithélium 

 intestinal des tjachéates: Aich. f. Protistenk., 4. 



