E. Weidner et al., Mosquito (Diptera : Culicidae) host compatibility and vector competency for the human myositic parasite Trachipleistophora hominis (Phylum microspora), J MED ENT, 36(4), 1999, pp. 522-525
Microsporidian spores of Trachipleistophora hominis Hollister, isolated fro
m a human, readily infected larval stages of both Anopheles quadrimaculatus
Say sensu lato and Culex quinque-fasciatus Say. Mosquito infections with T
. hominis were located, primarily, in abdominal muscles in segment numbers
4 through 6; other spores were found in the hemocoel and proboscis, Nearly
50% of the infected mosquito larvae survived to the adult stage. Spores rec
overed from adult mosquitoes were inoculated into mice and resulted in sign
ificant muscle infection at the site of injection. Preliminary observations
also showed that T. hominis spores can be passively transferred from infec
ted mosquitoes to a sugar water substrate.