RESUMO
Paranoplocephala omphalodes is a widespread parasite of voles. Low morphological variability within the genus Paranoplocephala has led to erroneous identification of P. omphalodes a wide range of definitive hosts. The use of molecular methods in the earlier investigations has confirmed that P. omphalodes parasitizes four vole species in Europe. We studied the distribution of P. omphalodes in Russia and Kazakhstan using molecular tools. The study of 3248 individuals of 20 arvicoline species confirmed a wide distribution of P. omphalodes. Cestodes of this species were found in Microtus arvalis, M. levis, M. agrestis, Arvicola amphibius, and also in Chionomys gud. Analysis of the mitochondrial gene cox1 variability revealed a low haplotype diversity in P. omphalodes in Eurasia.
