Adult worms live in the bile duct and small intestines of mice and rats, and larvae metamorphose in the haemocoel of beetles.

[3] Hymenolepis species and other tapeworms often exhibit a 'crowding effect' in which the total biomass of the worms stays more or less constant, regardless of the intensity of infection.

As the definitive host (rats) eats an infected arthropod, cysticercoids present in the body cavity transform into the adult worm.

Worms reproduce sexually via the cross fertilization of segments, each of which contains a complete complement of male and female reproductive organs (hermaphroditic).

These are located in the neck region of the adult worms and are responsible for the continual production of new organs during the process of strobilation (segment formation).

[4] The diploid chromosome number of H. microstoma is 12 and the total genome size has been estimated by the Sanger Institute to be 1.4 megabases (with GC-content of ~35%).

[7] 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.

They can also be grown in culture (in vitro), giving easy manipulation of the life cycle.. Hymenolepis microstoma primarily infects rodents, and is only very rarely found in humans.

Human H. microstoma infection is often asymptomatic, but abdominal pain, irritability, itching, and eosinophilia are among the existing symptoms in a few of the reported cases.