Insects dispersing taeniid eggs: Who and how?

[Display omitted] •Taeniid eggs can remain vital for months in the environment.•We review the relevance of arthropods as spreaders of taeniid eggs in the epidemiology of taeniasis and echinococcosis.•Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Carabidae, Dermestidae Scarabaeoidea and Tenebrionidae can spread taeniid eggs.•The infection of new hosts can occur through the direct ingestion of an insect or of contaminated food and water.•Further research on the topic is needed, to implement actions preventing taeniid infections worldwide. Taeniosis/cysticercosis and echinococcosis are neglected zoonotic helminth infections with high disease burden caused by tapeworms which circulate between definitive and intermediate host reflecting a predator-prey interaction. Taeniid eggs can remain vital for months, allowing arthropods to mechanically transport them to intermediate hosts. However, the multiple routes that arthropods provide as carriers of taeniid eggs are still often unregarded or not considered. This review focuses on the prevalence and importance of arthropods as carriers and spreaders of taeniid eggs in the epidemiology of taeniosis/cysticercosis and echinococcosis. Current scientific knowledge showed a relevant role of houseflies (Muscidae), blowflies (Calliphoridae), dung beetles (Scarabaeoidea), darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae), ground beetles (Carabidae) and skin beetles (Dermestidae) in the spread of taeniid eggs in the environment, which may favor the infection of new hosts through the direct ingestion of an insect or of contaminated food and water. At last, key research challenges are highlighted, illustrating that further knowledge on the topic is needed to develop and improve guidelines and actions to prevent taeniid infections worldwide.