Species in the genus Hymenolepis (e.g. H. diminuta, H. microstoma, H. nana) have been maintained as laboratory models for studying tapeworm biology since the 1950s.
Utilizing rodent definitive hosts and beetle intermediate hosts, they may be readily maintained in vivo for teaching and research purposes. In vitro cultivation methods have also been developed for the species mentioned above.Â
Most of our understanding of tapeworm physiology and ultrastructure stems from work on this genus and ongoing efforts to characterize the genome and transcriptome of H. microstoma is making this a model of choice for cestode research in the genomic era.