Notes on Tetrameres — Kartman 
glands that the most severe clinical symptoms 
and even death of young birds may occur. 
Both males and females have been noted to 
feed on blood, and Cram (1931) pointed out 
that T. americana causes emaciation and 
droopiness in young chicks. 
The primary objective of the present ob- 
servations was to determine if the sparrow 
Tetrameres is infective to chickens. Additional 
biological data on this parasite have also been 
recorded. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
English sparrows were obtained by shoot- 
ing them out of trees on the poultry farm at 
the University of Hawaii Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station. These birds were immediately 
dissected. Seasonal records on parasite inci- 
dence were thus obtained from ' February, 
1947, to March, 1948. In some cases an 
examination of individual proventricular 
glands was made and the number of male and 
female parasites per gland was noted. 
Adult female Tetrameres were removed from 
the proventriculus and macerated in a small 
dish in a drop of physiological saline. Bits of 
this material were fed to grasshoppers {Oxya \ 
chinensis and Conocephalus saltator). The indi- 
vidual hosts were subsequently dissected to 
check upon their experimental infections; no 
infected controls were found. The grass- 
hoppers were maintained in a small screened 
cage and provided with various grasses from 
their natural habitat. Infected grasshoppers 
showing third stage (infective) larvae of the 
parasite were fed to young chicks by forcing 
the whole grasshopper into the crop with a 
long forceps. 
DATA AND DISCUSSION 
The seasonal incidence of Tetrameres sp. in 
the sparrow is shown in Table 1. These data 
indicate male and female infected hosts about 
equal in number and no apparent significant 
fluctuation in percentage of infection through- 
out the season. Nevertheless, the obvious 
conclusion is not justified since the age of the 
parasite and of the host is unknown, thus 
precluding any inferences on the rate of para- 
sitic transfer from the intermediate to the 
definitive host. Cursory inspection indicated 
that the majority of female parasites were 
TABLE 1 
Seasonal Incidence of Tetrameres sp. in Passer domesticus from University of Hawaii 
Agricultural Experiment Station 
DATE 
NO. 
birds 
NO. BIRDS INFECTED 
NO. PROVENTRICULAR 
GLANDS INVADED 
9 
c7 
Total 
% 
Min. 
Max. 
Mean 
2-8-47 
12 
3 
1 
■4 
33.3 
1 
10 
3.3 
3-1-47 
11 
2 
2 
4 
36.3 
1 
2 
1.5 
4-3-47 
20 
5 
4 
9 
45.0 
1 
3 
1.8 
6-5-47 
12 
1 
1 
2 
16.6 
1 
2 
1.5 
7-8-47 
15 
1 
2 
3 
20.0 
1 
2 
1.5 
9-10-47 
19 
3 
1 
4 
21.0 
1 
4 
2.0 
10-20-47 
20 
1 
4 
5 
25.0 
1 
10 
4.2 
11-14-47 
18 
3 
4 
7 
38.8 
1 
6 
1.9 
12-14-47 
25 
4 
4 
8 
32.0 
1 
4 
1.5 
1-16-48 
20 
4 
2 
6 
30.0 
1 
9 
3.0 
2-10-48 
15 
2 
3 
5 
33.3 
1 
6 
2.0 
3-21-48 
20 
7 
3 
10 
50.0 
1 
8 
2.1 
Totals 
207 
36 
31 
67 
22.2 
1 
10 
2.1 
