Dr. Kassai Tibor - Dr. Murai Éva szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 9. (Budapest, 1976)
One of the main characteristics of bat tapeworms is the quality (shape, size) and number of hooks^Since hook shapes might well be utilized for taxonomic purposes, a detailed description thereof is forthcoming. The fraternoid hooks can be classified into two main types: a) handle long and thin, guard bulky, protrusive, blade does not reach to the most anterior point of the guard; hook length is either inferior to, or identical to, base length (Fig. 22a, b). (e.g. V. balsaci, V. decipiens ) b) handle long and thin, guard broad, blade well developed, longer than guard; accordingly hook length is exceeding base length (Fig. 22c, d). (e. g. V. acuta , V. baeri ) Among the species classified into the genus Vampirolepis the hooks of H. chiropterophila Vlgueras, 1941 shown stout handle and less developed guard than the rest. YAMAGUTI (1959) created a new genus named Triodontolepis for H. miniopteri Sandars, 1957 the hooks of which carrying strong side processes on the guards. In the meantime several other species, mostly parasites of shrews, have been classified into the genus Triodontolepis Yamaguti, 1959 (PROKOPIC, 1975). The position of the testes in the young hermaphroditic proglottids can be resorted to as a species character, but cannot be regarded as a generic feature. ANDREIKO and her coworkers (1969a) concluded from examinations on a large number of V. skrjabinariana (Skarbilovitsch, 1946) that the linear arrangement of the testes is not a permanent feature of this species, because other arrangements, too, have not infrequently been seen. Accordingly, species characterized by triangular arrangement of the testes should also be placed within the genus Vampirolepis Spassky, 1954, erected for hook-bearing hymenolepidids of bats (e.g. V. spasskii Andreiko, Skvortzov et Konovalov, 1969). Both SPASSKY (1954) and YAMAGUTI (1959) classified many bat parasites into the genus Vampirolepis, including several species characterized by triangular rather than linear arrangement of the testes ( V. sangroundi Baer, 1933; V. kerivoulae Hübscher, 1937, etc., and even the species H. grisea (Rudolphi, 1819), known to have an unarmed scolex). Attention to the RodentolepisVampirolepis problem was also attracted by RYBICKA (1959). A further taxonomic difficulty has been presented by the inadequate definition of the genera Dicranotaenia and Staphylocystis . This and similar problems can explain that many species are still forced into artificial taxonomic categories. The elaboration of a systematic classification adequate to the natural system, remains to be achieved by further investigations. Faunistics Data on the hosts examined and worm recoveries are seen in Table 2. The collecting localities and the distribution of the tapeworms found in the bats are shown in the map (Fig. 23). The relative incidence of tapeworm species in the five most frequent indigenous bat species is iUustrated in Fig. 24. According to the present studies M, grisea (Beneden, 1873) Tenora et Barus, 1960 is the most cammon tapeworm of bats in Hungary. It occurred in all habitats in which a Hook quality can best be studied on scolices placed in BERLESE solution. My own investigations in Hungary and in the CoHection of the University of Neuchâtel provided ample opportunity for obtaining sufficient experience in hook evaluation. The hooks depicted in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 22 were aH drawn with the same apparatus and at the same magnification, in order to reduce subjective error to a minimum.
