''Plasmodium lutzi'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...

'' subgenus ''

Haemamoeba ''Haemamoeba'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' — all of which are parasites. The subgenus was created in 1963 by created by Corradetti ''et al.''. Species in this subgenus infect birds. __TOC__ Diagnostic features Species in the su ...

''. Like all ''Plasmodium'' species ''P. lutzi'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

Taxonomy

The parasite was first described by Lucena in 1939.

Distribution

This parasite is found in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

Hosts

This parasite has been reported to infect the grey-cowled wood rail ('' Aramides cajaneus)'' and the great thrush ('' Turdus fuscater'').Mantilla Granados JS, Matta NE, Pacheco MA, Escalante A, Gonzalez AD, Moncada LI (2013) Identification of ''Plasmodium (Haemamoeba) lutzi'' (Lucena, 1939) from ''Turdus fuscater'' (great thrush) in Colombia. J Parasitol

References

lutzi Parasites of birds {{plasmodium-stub