Dr. Kassai Tibor - Dr. Murai Éva szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 9. (Budapest, 1976)

hammatus Sawada, 1967; V. taruiensis Sawada, 1967) with hooks about 35 u in length, of which V. rysavyi Tenora et Barus, 1960 seems to be most closely releted to V. acuta. The present writer classifies V. rysavyi as a synonym of V. acuta on agreement with the authors contributing the original description of the former. Examinations of the hooks of approx. 530 V. acuta parasites recovered from 5 host species in Hungary, and of the crown of the specimen collected in France support the conclusion that this species is one of the most widely spread tapeworm parasites of bats not only in Hungary and Western Europe, but also in the greater part of the Palaearctic region, and probably of America, too. The variation spectrum of the species is wide enough to account for 4-5 ju differences in hook lengths of parasites recovered in same habitat and from the same host, yet V. acuta can be easily characterized and recognized in in toto preparations and, naturally, also by hook morphology studied in BERLESE medium. It is the opinion of the present writer that the species V. christensoni Macy, 1931, found in Poland (SOLTYS, 1959) and Roumania (CHIRIAC and BARBU, 1963), and probably also V. skrjabinariana (Skarbilovitsch, 1946) Spassky, 1954, very widely spread in the USSR, are identical with V. acuta nov. comb. Fig. 22: Hook types in the genus Vampirolepis Type 1: basis longer than length (A= V. balsaci; B= V. decipiens) Type 2: basis shorter than length (C= V. baeri sp. n. ; D= V. acuta) SPASSKY (1954) created the genus Vampirolepis for the systematic classification of those hymenolepidid species which posses a crown consisting of more than 20 fraternoid hooks, parasitize bats and have the testes arranged in a line (SPASSKY's type VII). Since the subdivision into further genera of the species originally ordered into the genus Hymenolepis Weinland, 1858 was deemed necessary by the time, the generic name Vampirolepis has since been widely adopted in the Hterature. It should be mentioned, however, that the genus Rodentolepis, also created by SPASSKY in 1954, has no notable differentiating features from Vampirolepis in SPASSKY's description. According to SPASSKY, apart from fraternoid hooks Rodentolepis species may posses also coronuloid or other types of hooks in number attaining "generally several dozens", and testes arranged either all in a line, or in a triangular fashion (SPASSKY's type V). SPASSKY created theigenus Rodentolepis for the hymenolepidids of rodents, which have the ecological pecuHarity of being able to parasitize in a single host in both the larval and adult stage. The features common to both genera are nude suckers, two pairs of excretory ducts, absence of accessory copulation organs, presence of seminal receptacle and both internal and external seminal vesicle, spherical or oval shape of eggs, and characteristic size of the embryonal hook. x

) Owing to the similar features of the genera Rodentolepis and Vampirolepis and to such considerations as e.g. led SPASSKY to classify the species H. fraterna (Stiles, 1906) into the genus Vampirolepis, it has become a fairly frequent practice to order rodent parasites, too, into either the Rodentolepis or the Vampirolepis genus (e. g. NAMA and KICHI /1975/ described last year a H. fraternalike hymenolepidid from the rat in the genus Vampirolepis

). Figs. 16-21: Vampirolepis acuta: 16= scolex; 17= hook crown; 18= young proglottids; 19= hermaphroditic proglottids; 20= mature proglottids; 21= proglottids containing eggs (No. 17 in BERLESE medium) (Photo Murai) 5] A 20u