On the life history of Ascaris devosi and its development in the white mouse and the domestic ferret
Authors: Sprent J. F. A. 
Published: June 2009

The development of Ascaris devosi, a parasite of the fisher and marten, was followed from the egg to the adult stage using the white mouse and the ferret as the intermediate and final hosts respectively. The eggs contained motile 1st stage larvae 6 days after cleavage and were infective at 12 days, the 1st moult having already occurred. The eggs remained infective for at least 1 year. The 2nd stage larva after hatching from the egg in the intestine of the mouse passes through the intestinal wall to the liver and mesenteric tissues. At 3 days after infection they were recovered from the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys and from the carcass. The larvae grow and store food material during the 2nd stage and between 8 and 12 days after infection they undergo the 2nd moult. The mouse shows the most severe pulmonary symptoms on the 3rd and 4th days after infection, the lungs showing complete red hepatization at this time. The 3rd stage larva is relatively inactive and becomes encapsulated in various tissues, particularly in the muscular and subcutaneous tissues of the neck, shoulders and thorax. The chief developmental changes, apart from growth, which occur in the 2nd and 3rd stage larvae are: (i) the intestine develops from a single row of cells to a multi-cellular tube; (ii) the body cavity appears; (iii) the excretory lobes appear, the nucleus on the left side becoming prominent at the end of the 2nd stage; (iv) the cuticle shows transverse striations at the end of the 2nd stage; (v) the lateral lines become prominent.

The encapsulated 3rd stage larvae remained alive for at least six months in the tissues of mice and at 25 days after infection of the mouse they were able to develop in the young ferret following killing and ingestion of the mouse. No infection of ferrets was obtained through oral administration of embryonated eggs or 3rd stage larvae digested from mouse tissues.

The 3rd moult occurred in the intestine of the young ferret 3–4 days after infection; in adult ferrets the 3rd stage larvae were evidently unable to gain a hold and were passed out in the faeces. In the next 2–3 weeks the larva grew from about 2 to 16 mm. the 4th moult occurring between 2 and 3 weeks after infection. During the 4th stage the lips develop into the adult form and sexual differentiation occurs. In the female the genital rudiment moves forward and becomes differentiated into the vagina, uteri and ovaries. The vulva remains closed throughout the 4th stage.

The adult parasites had developed to sexual maturity by 56 days after infection, but they continued to grow and were considerably longer at 6 months after infection. The position of the vulva relative to the body length was found to move from about midway along the body in the 4th stage larva to a position at the junction of the anterior and middle third of the body in the mature adult.

The life history of this parasite is discussed in relation to that of A. lumbricoides and other species. It is considered that the life history of A. devosi, requiring as it does a true intermediate host for its completion, provides further information on the evolutionary development of the ascaris group. This work accordingly supports the hypothesis that the earliest members of this group utilized an intermediate host and does not support that which supposes that ascaris parasites are descended from skin-penetrating forms.

During this investigation the writer has benefited considerably from correspondence with Dr J. D. Tiner, Department of Zoology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, U.S.A. His thanks are also due to Dr H. B. Speakman and Dr A. M. Fallis for their encouragement, guidance and help.

This work was supported by the Province of Ontario on the recommendation of the Research Council of Ontario.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Mr Cliff Smith of the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories of the University of Toronto for photographic work.