December 2007 - The Indian Society for Parasitology

106A.P. NandiFig. 7. En face view of female.Fig. 8. En face view of female (enlarged) showing mouth andapical plates.Fig. 9. Anterior end of female, ventral view.Fig. 11. Anterior end of female, ventral view, box showingposition of excretory pore (left); box enlarged to show excretorypore (right).Fig. 10. Anterior end of female, lateral view.each pseudolabium, surround the mouth opening (Fig.7–10). The cuticular plates behind the apical plates arearranged in two rows with considerable overlappingbetween rows. The anterior row bears one pair dorsal,one pair ventral, two lateral and four submedian plates.The dorsal and ventral plates (Fig. 9) are larger in sizethan the lateral and submedian plates. Openings ofamphids are located at the centre of the lateral plates(Fig. 9, 10) and each submedian plate surrounds andextends below the corresponding cephalic papilla (Fig.9, 10). The posterior row consists of one pair dorsal, onepair ventral and two pairs of lateral plates. Each of thedorsal and ventral plates is L-shaped with a broad baseand narrow vertical arm (Fig. 9). The lateral cuticularplates are triangular in shape and the paired plates oneach lateral surface form a notch at the anterior endwhere the anterior lateral plate is received (Fig. 10).Scanning electron micrographs of the cervical region