| Summary: | The metastrongyloid <i>Aelurostrongylus</i> <i>abstrusus</i> has an indirect lifecycle involving gastropod intermediate hosts. The widespread snail <i>Cornu</i> <i>aspersum</i> is an efficient intermediate host of <i>A. abstrusus</i>. As the temperature may influence the developmental rate of metastrongyloids from first (L1) to the third infective larval stage (L3) inside molluscs, this study evaluated the effect of two controlled temperatures on the development of <i>A. abstrusus</i> in <i>C. aspersum</i>. Overall, 300 snails were infected with 500 L1 of <i>A. abstrusus</i> and kept at ∼25 °C. Fifteen days post infection (D15), the overall developmental rate to L3 (0.8%) was assessed in a subset of 20 snails. The remaining gastropods were divided in 2 groups, i.e., 180 still kept at ∼25 °C (G1) and 100 hibernated at ∼4 °C (G2). On D30, the larval development was evaluated in 20 snails from each group, while another batch of 80 snails was selected random from G1 and hibernated at ∼4 °C (G3). The larval developmental rate was determined digesting 20 snails from each of the three groups on D45, D60, and D75. The higher mean developmental rate was registered in G1 (3.8%) compared to G2 (1.9%) and G3 (2.3%), indicating that the development to L3 of <i>A. abstrusus</i> in <i>C. aspersum</i> is positively influenced by the increase of temperature.
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