Welcome to Cestode Life Cycle Database

Cestodes (tapeworms) form a monophyletic group of parasitic Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include over 5200 described species.

Adult cestodes reproduce in the digestive tract of vertebrates, but for an egg to become and egg-producing worm, they need to infect a variety of intermediate hosts, and pass though specific developmental stages.

So far, there is no single compilation of cestode life cycles. This database aims to collect and organise the available information through an extensive search of scientific literature and Museum collections, thus providing tools for parasitologists, ecologist and systematists.