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CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LIFE-HISTORY OF 
TAPEWORMS OF THE GENUS MONIEZIA. 
By F. W. FLATTELY, M.Sc., 
Lecturer in Zoology , University of Durham. 
The following account of observations and experiments in connection with 
the life-history of Moniezia tapeworms, though embodying only negative 
conclusions, is put forward in the hope that it may mean a certain amount of 
ground cleared for the benefit of other workers. 
As is well known, the Moniezia tapeworms are parasitic in various species 
of herbivorous animals, mostly Ungulates, but are particularly common in 
the domestic sheep, from which they can be obtained in large numbers in the 
public abattoirs of any big city. Previous to 1915 a certain number of experi¬ 
ments had been carried out in connection with this problem but all with 
negative results. A few zoologists had also put forward suggestions, but these 
had been either insufficiently tested or had been more or less definitively shown 
to be incorrect. 
The genus Moniezia was established by Blanchard in 1891 to include 13 
species of unarmed tapeworms occurring in Bos , Ovis, Macropus, Lepus and 
Arctomys, and revised by Stiles in 1893. Stiles’s emended diagnosis is as follows: 
Moniezia R. Bl., 1891. Char, emend. Head without hooks, segments 
generally broader than long and longer than thick, end segments showing a 
tendency to become longer and narrower. Two full sets of genital organs, with 
two uteri and two lateral pores in each segment. On the right side the vagina 
is ventral, cirrus dorsal; on the left side vagina dorsal, cirrus ventral. Dorsal 
canal lies dorso-median of ventral canal. Genital canals cross the longitudinal 
canals and nerves dorsally. Interproglottidal glands generally present. Cal¬ 
careous bodies absent from parenchyma. Eggs with well-developed pyriform 
body. 
Stiles recognises the following species as belonging to this genus: M. planis- 
sima, M. Benedeni, M. Neumanni, M. expansa, M. oblongiceps, M. trigonophora, 
M. alba and M. denticulata. The host species include: Domestic cattle (Bos 
taurus ), Zebu (Bos indicus), Goat (Capra hircus), Spanish Ibex (Capra pyrenaica), 
Roe Deer (Cervus capreolus), Pampas Deer (Cariacus campestris), Cariacus 
paludosus, Cariacus nambi, Brocket (Cariacus rufus), Cariacus simplicicornis, 
Cariacus sp.?, Gazelle (Gazella dorcas), Musk-ox (Ovibus moschatus ), Domestic 
Sheep (Ovis aries), Chamois or Gernse (Antilope rupicapra). 
