Synonyms: Eimeria cochisensis Hill & Duszynski, 1986.

Other names: Eimeria asiatici Levine & Ivens, 1965.

Type host: Spermophilus beecheyi (Richardson, 1829).

Other hosts: Cynomys gunnisoni; C. leucurus; C. ludovicianus; Marmota flaviventris; Spermophilus elegans; S. relictus; S. richardsonii; S. townsendii; S. tridecemlineatus; S. undulatus; S. variegatus; Tamias canipes; T. dorsalis; T. obscurus; T. townsendii.

Type locality: North America: USA, California, Lake County, near Nevada City.

Other localities: Asia: Buriatia; Kazakhstan; North America: Canada, Alberta; USA, Arizona, California, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Wyoming; Central America: Mexico, Baja California.

Description of oocyst: Oocyst shape: spheroid to ovoid; wall thickness: 1; layers: 1; colourless; outer layer texture: smooth; micropyle: absent; OR: absent; PG: present; number of PGs: 1+; PG shape: large; PG L x W: not given; size: 19.2 x 16.0; L/W ratio: 1.2. Distinctive features of oocyst: none.

Description of sporocysts and sporozoites: Sporocyst shape: ovoid; size: 12 x 7 (10-14 x 6-8); SB: present; SB L x W: not given; SB characteristics: small; SSB: absent; PSB: absent; SR: present; SR characteristics: compact mass of densely packed small granules; SR size: not given; SP: each with large posterior RB. Distinctive features of sporocyst: none.

Material deposited: USNPC No. 87248 (phototype).

Remarks:<Eimeria beecheyi was described from S. beecheyi by Henry (1932). Then Tanabe & Okinami (1940) reported it from Tamias sibericus (Laxmann, 1769) (which they called Eutamias asiatica). Levine and Ivens (1965) thought that Tanabe & Okinami (1940) had seen a new species (E. asiatici) because E. beecheyi was first described from a ground squirrel not a chipmunk (Henry, 1932). However, neither the written description nor the photomicrograph in Tanabe & Okinami (1940) is of sufficient quality to justify a new name or confirm the original identification. Thus, we suggest that what Tanabe & Okinami (1940) saw is a species inquirenda. Hill & Duszynski (1986) described E. cochisensis (16.7 x 15.3; range 15-18 x 14-17) in T. dorsalis. In re-evaluating their description and photomicrograph, we believe E. cochisensis and E. beecheyi represent the same species because of their structural similarities.

References: Abenov & Svanbaev (1982); Henry (1932); Hill & Duszynski (1986); Levine & Ivens (1965); Machulsky (1949); Seville (1997); Seville et al., (1992); Seville & Stanton (1993b); Shults et al., (1990); Stanton et al. (1992); Tanabe & Okinami (1940); Thomas & Stanton (1994); Wilber et al. (1994).