Dictyocaulus viviparus

  

Contents

  

Rev 10/21/2025

Bovine Lungworm; Cattle Lungworm Classification Biology and Ecology
Morphology and Anatomy Life Cycle
Return to Dictyocaulus Menu   Ecosystem Functions and Services
Distribution Management
Return to Dictyocaulidae Menu Feeding  References
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Classification:

Chromadorea

  Rhabditia

    Rhabditida

      Metastrongyloidea

       Dictyocaulidae

       
Dictyocaulus viviparus (Bloch, 1782) Railliet & Henry, 1907

Type species of the genus

Synonyms
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Morphology and Anatomy:

 

   
   





Males:  

  • 17-50 mm long, 500 um wide.
  • Small unlobed bursa with the branches of the dorsal ray trilobed and the mediolateral and posterolateral rays are fused
  • Spicules 196-215 um long
  • Gubernaculum is 64-80 um long

 

Female:  

  • White color
  • Length 23-80 mm
  • Tail short, pointed.
  • Vulva is near mid body.
  • Ovoviviparous, producing eggs that are ellipsoidal (82-88 x 22-28 um) containing fully developed L1 (310 um long 16-19 um wide), which hatch almost immediately.

Ref Snyder et al., 2020

 

 

Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:

 
 
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Distribution:

Worldwide, especially temperate climates with high rainfall (Snyder et al., 2020).

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Feeding:

 Found in the air passages of the lungs. Occurs in the the trachea and bronchi, particularly the diaphragmatic lobes, of cattle, ox, zebu, camels, and various wild ruminants.

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Biology and Ecology:

Infection in young cattle causes parasitic bronchitis (husk, hoose, verminous pneumonia, or dictyocaulosis) occurring during their first grazing season on permanent or semipermanent pastures.

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Life Cycle:

Unlike other Metastrongyloidea, Dictyocaulus does not require an intermediate host, the lifecycle is direct. That leads Snyder et al (2020) to suggest classification in the Trichostrongyloidea would be more appropriate.

Dictyocaulus vivipparus lives in the lumen of the bronchial tree and is thought to be the only nematode that reaches maturity in the lungs of cattle .

Females produce eggs in the bronchii; newly hatched L1 larvae migrate up the trachea, are swallowed and passed out in the feces. They develop to the  infective L3 develop in about 5 days in the environment and migrate or are projected (from the sporangium of the fungus, Pilobolus) to herbage away from the fecal pat.

The L3 are ingested by the definitive host during grazing and penetrate the intestinal mucosa and migrate to the mesenteric lymph nodes. In the lymph nodes they  molt to the L4 and travel  to the lungs via the lymph and thoracic duct. The L4 break out of the capillaries into the alveoli in about a week after infection and molt in the bronchioles to young adults that move up the bronchii and mature.

The prepatent period is about 3-4 weeks (Snyder et al., 2020)

 Partial or complete air passage obstruction can occur with heavy lungworm infections.

 
   

Ecophysiological Parameters:

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this species, click If species level data are not available, click for genus level parameters
 
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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

 

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Management:

 

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References:

Anderson, R.C. 2009. Keys to the nematode parasites of vertebrates: archival volume. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781845935726.0178

Snyder, D.E., Marchiondo, A.A. Cruthers, L.R. 2020. Nematoda, Trichostrongyloidea. Chapter 2 in Marchiondo, Cruthers and Fourie (eds) Parasiticide Screening Vol 2. Academic Press

 

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: October 21, 2025.