Fig. 3

Haemoproteus spp. with pale staining of macrogametocyte cytoplasm. Haemoproteus concavocentralis (a-d), H. minutus (e-h), H. pallidus (i-l), H. pallidulus (m-p) and H. vacuolatus (q-t). Macrogametocytes (a, b, e, f, i, j, m, n, q, r), microgametocytes (c, d, g, h, k, l, o, p, s, t). Note the following valuable diagnostic features of the parasites: presence of a space between the nucleus of the infected erythrocyte and the growing gametocyte in H. concavocentralis (a); clearly irregular outline of mature gametocytes, which do not touch the poles of infected erythrocytes in H. minutus (e-h); gametocyte which are closely appressed to the nucleus of erythrocyte but do not touch the envelope of erythrocyte along their entire margin in H. pallidus (j, l); small pigment granules in mature gametocytes of H. pallidulus (m-p); presence of one prominent vacuole in the cytoplasm of each advanced macrogametocyte in H. vacuolatus (q-t). All these features are not characteristics of H. homopalloris n. sp. (see Fig. 1). Long simple arrows: gametocyte nuclei; short simple arrows: vacuole-like spaces in macrogametocytes; arrowheads: pigment granules; long simple wide arrows: space present between the parasite and an infected erythrocyte nucleus (a, d) and space between the parasite and the envelope of infected erythrocyte (j, l). Giemsa-stained thin blood films. Scale-bar: a-t, 10 μm