21. The life cycle of " Plasmodium " involves several distinct stages in the insect and vertebrate hosts . 22. As such, only the parasite stages which infect red blood cells of the vertebrate host have been described. 23. The vertebrate host of this species is unknown but it seems likely that it may have been a bird. 24. Aquatic birds that nest in colonies are the most common vertebrate hosts , including gannets, terns and herons. 25. All " Plasmodia " are parasitic and require both a vertebrate host and an insect host to reproduce. 26. Known vertebrate hosts include various primates ( including humans ), birds, rodents, bats, porcupines and squirrels. 27. Myiasis is the infestation of live or necrotic tissue on a vertebrate host by fly larvae ( Stevens 2003 ). 28. The reduction has happened before the origin of the present species and with that before their adaption to vertebrate hosts . 29. A limiting criterion for inclusion within the genus " Mycoplasma " is that the organism have a vertebrate host . 30. The meronts are released into the bloodstream where they form gametocytes, the final stage of development within the vertebrate host .
