Bunostomum		Contents		Rev 10/21/2025
Cattle and Sheep Hookworms		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Bunostomum menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Ancylostomatidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Phylum:  Nematoda
Class:    Chromadorea
Order:    Rhabditida 

Superfamily:  Ancylostomatoidea

Family:  Ancylostomatidae

Bunostomum (Railliet, 1900) Lane, 1917

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Body size range for the species of this genus in the database - Click:

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Distribution:

The cattle hookworm (B. phlebostomum) is cosmopolitan, especially in warm, moist climates and infects the small intestine of ruminants.

The sheep hookworm (B. trigonocephalum) has a similar distribution and life cycle (Marchiondo et al., 2020).

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Economic Importance:

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Hosts:

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Bunostomum

Intestinal parasites of cattle and sheep

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Life Cycle:

Lifecycle is direct.

Definitive hosts pass eggs  in the feces. Eggs released in the feces develop and hatch as infective Lr larvae in 5-16 days. Infective L3 penetrate through the skin or are swallowed by definitive host (cattle or sheep).. Larvae migrate to the respiratory tract, are coughed up, swallowed, and reach the small intestine to develop to adults.

The prepatent period is 52-60 days   (Marchiondo et al., 2020).

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Damage:

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Management:

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References:

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

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