Cestodes found to represent previously undescribed members of the genus Hymenolepis s.str. (Yamaguti 1959) were recovered from pocket gophers, Geomys bursarius (Shaw), in northeastern Colorado. Hymenolepis weldensis n.sp. and Hymenolepis geomydis n.sp., not occurring together in any individual host, were found in 3 and 8%, respectively, of pocket gophers examined for helminths. The life cycle of H. weldensis was completed in the laboratory using beetles, Tenebrio molitor (L.), as intermediate hosts, and pocket gophers of three genera (Geomys, Thomomys, and Pappogeomys) as definitive hosts. Development of H. weldensis did not occur in laboratory rats, Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout). Morphologic relationships four species of Hymenolepis (H. diminuta, H. tualatinensis, H. weldensis, and H. geomydis) were analyzed using multiple discriminant function analysis, which clearly allocated individual cestodes to the respective groups and discriminated species.
Geomys bursarius (Rodentia: Geomyidae)
