Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Collecting Marine Gnathiid Isopod Fish Parasites with Light Traps
Published on: September 25, 2023
The dynamics of macroparasite host-self-infection: a study of the patterns and processes of pinworm (Oxyuridae)
1Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, USA. dag268@psu.edu
Objectives:
Among parasites, Taylor's power law identifies a tight relationship in aggregation of macroparasite infection intensity with few exceptions; notably, the nematode family Oxyuridae tends to have higher than expected aggregation. Oxyuridae infect a wide range of mammalian hosts and have a unique reproductive strategy that involves conventional horizontal transmission, as well as re-infection of an already infected host. We asked the question, do the unique aspects of pinworm life-history explain an exception to the widely observed patterns of aggregation of parasite populations?
Methods:
We empirically examined the differences among Oxyuridae (genus: Syphacia) compared with other helminth (genus: Heligmosomoides) parasite aggregations in 2 rodent hosts with similar ecology: the yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) from Trento, Italy and the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) from Pennsylvania, USA. To investigate the effects of pinworm life-history characteristics on generating aggregation, we present a stochastic model that explores aggregation under a range of host-self-infection, parasite death, and transmission scenarios.
Results:
Oxyuridae parasites had consistently greater aggregation compared to other nematodes regardless of host or parasite species identity, and pinworm aggregation exceeded the range of macroparasite aggregation described previously.
Conclusions:
Our simulations demonstrate that host-self-infection, on its own, is sufficient to generate aggregation values greater than the predicted values.
Related Concept Videos
Microbial Interactions: Parasitism
Amebiasis
Colonisation of Pathogens
Diversity of Protists I
Diversity of Protists II
Symbiosis

