Effect of population density on growth and development of Taenia hydatigena in dogs.

Groups of puppies were infected with either one, five, 10, 20 or 40 cysticerci of Taenia hydatigena and necropsied 70 days later. The number of worms recovered from each group was proportional to the number of cysticerci fed. Individual weights of worms decreased significantly with increasing numbers. The lengths of worms and relative numbers of pregravid and gravid proglottids also decreased with increasing population density. Gravid segments were present on some worms at all population densities.