Morphology
Ascaris lumbricoides is characterized by its great size. Males are 2–4 mm in diameter and 15–31 cm long. The males' posterior end is curved ventrally and has a bluntly pointed tail. Females are 3–6 mm wide and 20–49 cm long. The vulva is located in the anterior end and accounts for about a one third of its body length. Uteri may contain up to 27 million eggs at a time with 200,000 being laid per day. Fertilized eggs are oval to round in shape and are 45-75 micrometers long and 35-50 micrometers wide with a thick outer shell. Unfertilized eggs measure 88-94 micrometers long and 44 micrometers wide.
Read more about this topic: Ascaris Lumbricoides
Famous quotes containing the word morphology:
“I ascribe a basic importance to the phenomenon of language.... To speak means to be in a position to use a certain syntax, to grasp the morphology of this or that language, but it means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization.”
—Frantz Fanon (1925–1961)