CORONOEPIMERITUS BEASLEYARUM N. SP. (EUGREGARINIDA: ACTINOCEPHALOIDEA) FROM THE DIFFERENTIAL GRASSHOPPER, MELANOPLUS
Abstract:
A description and differential diagnosis of Coronoepimeritus beasleyarum n. sp. are presented. Dissections of the differential grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis (Thomas), collected in Johnson County, Kansas, were found to be parasitized by a previously undescribed species of parasite. Gregarines were located at the cecal junction between the foregut and midgut and in the anterior portion of the midgut. This new species is consistent with the generic diagnosis of Coronoepimeritus (Hoshide, 1959) Clopton & Clopton, 2022 in possessing oocysts with long, polar filament-like spines and a crown-like epimerite bearing a globular tumidus with unbranched digitiform processes. This species differs from other described Coronoepimeritus species in mixed-aged trophozoite and gamont total lengths (TL), oocyst length (OL), and deutomerite maximum width (DWM). It is the third species of Coronoepimeritus described from North American grasshoppers.
