A quantitative study of the life cycle of
Skrjabingylus nasicola was made. Before estimating the losses at each level of the cycle, we needed to know the location of the infectious larval stage in the paratenic host. We found that a significant number of L3 encapsulate in the anterior part of the paratenic host. The cephalic glandular zones, salivary and lacrymal glands, and maybe the musculature and connective tissues of
Apodemus sp. and
Clethrionomys glareolus are preferred waiting regions.
Of the 100 L1 placed in contact with the intermediate host,Agriolimax reticulatus, about 24 reach the infectious stage in the mollusc, and a little more than six become adults in the definitive host. These are relatively large losses, if one considers that the conditions of host-parasite encounter were optimal.
Part of a Ph.D. thesis submitted by J.-M. Weber to the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland