Relative abundance of tree hole-breeding mosquitoes in Boone County, Missouri, USA, with emphasis on the vector potential of Aedes triseriatus for canine heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis (Spirurida: Filariidae).

Aedes (Protomacleaya) triseriatus currently shares its habitat in the USA with the introduced species Aedes (Finlaya) japonicus and Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus. In the late 1980s, before the introduction of these 2 species, Ae. triseriatus was the dominant tree hole- and artificial container-breeding mosquito in central Missouri.

Rheumatoid factor-like IgM in Plasmodium berghei (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida) infections of BALB/c mice.

Groups of female BALB/c mice infected by intravenous injection with 50 erythrocytes containing Plasmodium berghei Vincke et Lips, 1948 were sacrificed on days 3 through 12 after infection. Rheumatoid factor-like IgM (RF-IgM) and parasite-specific IgG levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in serum specimens and in culture medium removed from spleen cell cultures established at sacrifice. All four mouse IgG subisotypes were recognized by RF-IgM molecules induced by Plasmodium berghei infection, and in this regard, the parasite-induced RF-IgM response resembled that induced by lipopolysaccharide polyclonal activation.