Intra- and interspecific chemoattraction studies onSchistosoma mansoni,S. japonicum,andS. haematobium in the absence of barriers

Heterosexual intra- and interspecific chemoattraction studies were done in polycarbonate chambers without barriers using 8- to 10-week-oldSchistosoma mansoni from mice, 10-week-oldSchistosoma japonicum from hamsters, and 14-week-oldSchistosoma haematobium from hamsters. Experiments were done for up to 4 hr at 37 °C in a humidified incubator. Single worms were not attracted to decoys or heat-killed worms. Heterosexual intraspecific and interspecific attraction was significant at all time points with all combinations. No clear differences were apparent between intra- and interspecific attraction. Differences between same and differentS. japonicum orS. haematobium pairs were not significant at any time point.