Ascarops		Contents		Rev: 10/27/2025
Swine Stomach Worm; Thick Stomach Worm		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ascarops Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Spirocercidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea
Chromadoria

           Rhabditida 

                       Spirurina

                          Spiruroidea

                   Spirocercidae

 

            Ascarops van Beneden, 1873

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Nematodes of the genus Ascarops are characterized by:

• Chabaud (1975) separated the family Spirocercidae from the Spiruridae on the basis of the buccal capsule being laterally flattened in Spiruridae but not in Spirocercidae,, the mouth being dorso-ventrally elongate in the Spiruridae but hexagonal in the Spirocercidae, and the absence of teeth the buccal capsule of Spiruridae but generally present in Spirocercidae.

• Mouth with two trilobed lips and an internal tooth.

Ref: Marchiondo and Cruthers, 2020

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Distribution:

Worldwide

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Ascarops

Parasite of the stomach of pigs.  Wild rodents (Myospalax psilurus, Rattus rattus) have been found with infections of mature adult A. strongylina (Marchiondo and Cruthers, 2020).

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

Lifecycle requires an intermediate host.

In Ascarops strongylina:

• Embryonated eggs shed in the feces of swine are ingestion by coprophagous beetles, particularly dung beetles, as natural intermediate hosts.
• Larvae hatch and develop to L3 in about 30 days.
• Pigs ingest infected dung beetles, and the L3 develop to adults in the pig stomach.
• The prepatent period is 46-50 days. (Marchiondo and Cruthers, 2020).

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Chabaud, A.G. (1975) No. 3. Keys to genera of the order Spirurida. Part. 2. Spiruroidea, Habronematoidea and Acuaroidea. pp. 29–58 in Anderson, R.C., Chabaud, A.G. & Willmott, S. (Eds) CIH Keys to the nematode parasites of vertebrates. Farnham Royal, Bucks, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.

Marchiondo, A.A., Cruthers, L.R. 2020. Nematoda, Spirurida. 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 27, 2025.