Several readers pointed out that these microfilariae have a clearly visible sheath. The presence of a sheath allows us to narrow the differential down to 3 microfilariae: Wuchereria bancrofti, Loa loa, and Brugia spp. These can then be differentiated by characteristics of the head, tail, and the position of the nuclei in the tail. In this case, there are widely-spaced subterminal and terminal nuclei in the tail which is characteristic of Brugia malayi. The deeply-staining pink sheath also supports this identification and allows B. malayi to be differentiated from B. timori. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)
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