Davaineidae

{{Short description|Family of flatworms}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Raillietina tetragona.jpg

| image_alt = SEM of "Raillietina tetragona"

| image_caption = SEM of Raillietina tetragona

| taxon = Davaineidae

| authority = Braun, 1900

}}

Davaineidae is the name of a family of tapeworms that includes helminth parasites of vertebrates.Schmidt, G.D. (1982). Cestoda. In: (Parker, S.P.) Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms, vol. 1. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 807-822. Of the 14 genera recorded under this family, Raillietina is the best understood and most extensively studied. Members of the family are characterized by the presence of a crown (rostellum) at the tip of the scolex, and the rostellum is made up of mattock- or hammer-shaped hooks. The rostellum is surrounded by suckers which are armed with spines.Jones, A. & Bray, R.A. (1994). Family Davaineidae Braun, 1900. In: (Khalil, L.F., Jones, A. & Bray, R.A., eds) Keys to the Cestode Parasites of Vertebrates. Commonwealth Agriculture Bureaux International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK, pp. 407-441. {{ISBN|978-0-85198-879-5}} These tapeworms are most commonly found in birds, and in few cases, mammals, which are the definitive hosts. Intermediate hosts are small insects such as ants.Yamaguti, S. (1959). Systema Helminthum, Volume 2. The Cestodes of Vertebrates. John Wiley & Sons Inc, USA, pp. 207, 401. {{ISBN|978-0-470-96987-8}} Hosts of Davainea proglottina (length 1 – 4 mm), for example, are chickens. Slugs are the intermediate hosts.Mehlhorn, Heinz (1998): Grundriß der Parasitenkunde. G. Fischer Stuttgart. {{ISBN|3-437-25830-3}}