Global InformationOphryocystis elektroscirrha information
| Ophryocystis elektroscirrha | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Conoidasida |
| Order: | Neogregarinorida |
| Family: | Ophryocystidae |
| Genus: | Ophryocystis |
| Species: | O. elektroscirrha
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ophryocystis elektroscirrha McLaughlin & Myers, 1970
| |
Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (sometimes abbreviated OE or O.e.[1]) is an obligate, neogregarine protozoan parasite that infects monarch (Danaus plexippus) and queen (Danaus gilippus) butterflies. There are no other known hosts. The species was first discovered in Florida, around the late 1960s.[2] Since then, it has been found in every monarch population examined to date, including monarchs sampled in North America, Hawaii, Australia, Cuba, and Central and South America.
Dormant spores occur on the cuticles of butterflies, in between the butterfly's scales. They are small, brown or black objects about 1/100th the width of a butterfly scale.
The only currently known way of treating the Ophryocystis parasite is by soaking the host's eggs in a light bleach solution, which kills the spores that are present on the eggs' surface.[3]
- ^ "What is OE?" Archived 2018-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Project Monarch Health of the University of Georgia. Retrieved February 8, 2017
- ^ R. E. McLaughlin & J. Myers (1970). "Ophryocystis elektroscirrha sp. n. a neogregarine pathogen of the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus (L.) and the Florida queen butterfly Danaus gilippus berenice Cramer". Journal of Protozoology. 17 (2): 300–305. doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.1970.tb02375.x.
- ^ "OE". Archived from the original on 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2016-01-30.