Dermatitis, pyogranulomatous, with adult nematodes and embryos, multifocal, severe, Dracunculus insignis. Case 5-2 . Pyogranulomatous inflammation surrounding an adult Dracunculus insignis with larvae. Pyogranuloma, with intralesional adult female nematode and larvae, Cocker Spaniel, canine, etiology consistent with Dracunculus insignis. Small intestine, identifiable by the presence of iron pigment in the epithelial cells.
Phasmids are chemoreceptors located in the caudal extremity, posterior to the anus.
The presence or absence of phasmids has been the basis of the classification of nematodes into the Phasmidia or Aphasmidia. This system of classification is no longer in use.2 Dracunculus insignis has an indirect life cycle. The first stage larvae are discharged by the adult female upon contact of the skin lesion with water. Dogs are infected by ingesting infected copepods or infected frogs. Upon ingestion by a suitable host, the larvae migrate and develop into adults in the subcutis of the definitive host.