Haemoproteus

A genus of sporozoa (suborder Haemosporina) parasitic in birds and reptiles, combined with Leucocytozoon, Hepatocystis, and other genera in the family Haemoproteidae. Schizogony occurs in endothelial cells of blood vessel s, especially in the lungs of the host, while halter-shaped gametocytes are found in the red blood cells. Infection is transmitted by pupiparous Diptera, such as louse flies (Hippoboscidae) and by bloodsucking midges (Culicoides) [G. haima, blood, + Proteus, a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes]

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Hae·mo·pro·te·us -'prō-tē-əs n a genus of protozoan parasites of the family Haemoproteidae occurring in the blood of some birds (as pigeons)

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Hae·mo·pro·te·us (he″mo-proґte-əs) [haemo- + Proteus] a genus of coccidian protozoa (suborder Haemosporina, order Eucoccidiida) in which the vectors are blood-sucking insects other than mosquitoes and the vertebrate hosts are mammals, reptiles, and wild and domestic birds including ducks, pigeons, and turkeys. In these organisms merogony takes place not in erythrocytes but in the vascular endothelial cells, and the gametocytes are found only in the circulating erythrocytes.