SummaryAdherence of eosinophilic granulocytes from patients with onchocerciasis to microfilariae (Mf), third (L3) and fourth (L4) stage larvae ofOnchocerca volvuluswas studiedin vitro.Native and heat‐inactivated sera from patients with onchocerciasis (OS), from endemic controls without signs of the disease (ECS), from healthy Caucasians (NS) or foetal calf serum (FCS) served as sources for adherence mediating factors. In FCS‐supplemented medium eosinophils did not adhere to any larvae. None of the sera mediated the adherence of eosinophils to L4. Eosinophils adhered to L3 in the presence of OS, ECS and NS, whereas OS exclusively mediated adherence to Mf. Reduced adherence rates of eosinophils to L3 occurred in heat‐inactivated or zymosan‐activated OS, ECS or CS. Eosinophils bound to the L3 cuticle of moulting stage but not lo the newly exposed L4 cuticle. A single adherent layer of effector cells was found around cast L3 cuticle, multiple layers were found around intact L3 leading to subsequent paralysis of the larvae and to an amplification of the toxic effector potential by homotypic intereosinophilic adhesion. Our experiments document heterogeneity of in vitro effector cell adherence to the three larval stages ofO. volvulusand indicate that complement‐dependent as well as independent mechanisms arc operative in eosinophil‐larval‐interaction. The results emphasize the importance of the invading infective larval stages ofO. volvulusas possible targets for vacci