New records of nematomorph parasites (Nematomorpha: Gordiida) of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and camel crickets (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae) in Washington State.

ABSTRACT

From 1998 to 2003, beetles and crickets infected with hairworms were collected from 4 localities within the Hanford Nuclear Site and the Hanford Reach National Monument, located in a shrub-steppe region of Washington State along the Columbia River. Infected hosts comprised 6 species of carabid beetles within 5 genera and 2 camel crickets within 1 genus; all are newly documented insect-nematomorph associations. A large proportion of the infected hosts (48%) were collected from a single site during a single collecting period. Of the 38 infected hosts, 32 contained a single worm, 4 hosts contained 2 worms, and 2 hosts contained 3 worms. Five of the hosts with multiple infections contained at least 1 male and 1 female worm. Camel crickets were infected with Neochordodes occidentalis while carabids were infected with an undescribed species of Gordionus . As the majority of hairworms are collected in the post-parasitic adult phase, host data and hairworm-arthropod associations remain poorly documented and our work adds new data to this area of nematomorph biology.