Filaroides		Contents		Rev 09/23/2026
Lungworms		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Filaroides Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Filaroididae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Rhabditia

    Rhabditida

      Metastrongyloidea

        Filaroididae

   Type species of the genus: Filaroides martis (Werner, 1792) Dougherty, 1943

Synonyms

Filaria Werner, 1782

Oslerus osleri Cobbold, 1870

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Morphology and Anatomy:

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Distribution:

Reported from the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Australia, and Japan (Marchiondo, 2020)

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Filaroides

  Lungworm parasites of dogs

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

Direct life cycle, no molluscan or annelid intermediate host required to develop to the infective stage.

• The L1 is directly infective to other dogs through ingestion in freshly passed feces; Coprophagia being the principal mechanism of transmission.
• The ingested L1 penetrates the intestinal wall, passes to the liver and then to the lungs as early as 6 h after oral ingestions
• The larvae molt in the lung parenchyma and mature to the adult stages in 5-6 weeks.
• Females deposit the thin-shelled eggs in the lungs.  Eggs develop to infective L1 which  hatch before being coughed into the intestinal tract and voided in the feces.
• Prepatent period is 32-35 days. (Marciondo, 2020)

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

Anthelminthics and sanitation are effective.

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References:

Marchiondo, A.A. 2020. Nematoda, Metastrongyloidea. Chapter 2 in Marchiondo, Cruthers and Fourie (eds) Parasiticide Screening Vol 2. Academic Press

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Revised by Howard Ferris: September 23, 2026.

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