Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:29:01.918Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Seasonal population dynamics of chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera and Ischnocera) infesting three species of woodpeckers (Aves: Piciformes: Picidae) in Manitoba, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Robert J. Lamb
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
Terry D. Galloway*
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected]).

Abstract

Three species of woodpeckers (Piciformes: Picidae) in Manitoba, Canada, were examined for chewing lice (Phthiraptera): the resident downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens (Linnaeus), n=55), and two migrants, yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius (Linnaeus), n=316) and northern flicker (Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus), n=225). Six species were collected: Menacanthus pici (Denny) (Amblycera: Menoponidae) from all hosts, and five species of Ischnocera (Philopteridae): Penenirmus auritus (Scopoli) from downy woodpeckers and sapsuckers, Picicola snodgrassi (Kellogg) and Brueelia straminea (Denny) from downy woodpeckers, and Penenirmus jungens (Kellogg) and Picicola porisma Dalgleish from flickers. Adults and nymphs were present on downy woodpeckers all year, and on migrant sapsuckers and flickers from when they arrived until they left, suggesting lice reproduce continuously on their hosts. Prevalence and mean intensities of louse infestations generally decreased from their respective springtime levels to their lowest values during or at the end of the breeding season of their hosts, and then increased in various degrees during the fall. No seasonal pattern in louse sex ratios was observed except on northern flickers, where male to female ratios for two of three species were lowest during the breeding season. Resident and migrant hosts had similar seasonal patterns of infestation by lice.

Type
Behaviour & Ecology
Copyright
© Entomological Society of Canada 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Subject Editor: Justin Schmidt

References

Ash, J.S. 1960. A study of the Mallophaga of birds with particular reference to their ecology. Ibis, 102: 93110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, H. 1968. Biologie und Ökologie der Amselfederläuse. Angewandte Parasitologie, 9: 129175.Google Scholar
Chandra, S., Agarwal, G.P., Singh, S.P., and Saxena, A.K. 1990. Seasonal changes in a population of Menacanthus eurysternus (Mallophaga, Amblycera) on the common myna, Acridotheres tristis . International Journal for Parasitology, 20: 10631065.Google Scholar
Clayton, D.H. 1991. Coevolution of avian grooming and ectoparasite avoidance. In Bird – parasite interactions: ecology, evolution and behaviour. Edited by J.E. Loye and M. Zuk. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. Pp. 258289.Google Scholar
Clayton, D.H. and Drown, D.M 2001. Critical evaluation of five methods for quantifying chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera). Journal of Parasitology, 87: 12911300.Google Scholar
Clayton, D.H., Gregory, R.D., and Price, R.D. 1992. Comparative ecology of Neotropical bird lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera). Journal of Animal Ecology, 61: 781795.Google Scholar
Clayton, D.H., Koop, J.A.H., Harbison, C.W., Moyer, B.R., and Bush, S.E. 2010. How birds combat ectoparasites. Open Ornithology Journal, 3: 4171.Google Scholar
Clayton, D.H., Lee, P.L.M., Tompkins, D.M., and Brodie, E.D. 1999. Reciprocal natural selection on host-parasite phenotypes. The American Naturalist, 154: 261270.Google Scholar
Cotgreave, P. and Clayton, D.H. 1994. Comparative analysis of time spent grooming by birds in relation to parasite load. Behaviour, 131: 171187.Google Scholar
Dalgleish, R.C. 1969. The Picicola (Mallophaga: Ischnocera) of the Picidae (Aves: Piciformes). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London (B), 38: 101113.Google Scholar
Dalgleish, R.C. 1972. The Penenirmus (Mallophaga: Ischnocera) of the Picidae (Aves: Picidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 80: 83104.Google Scholar
Eveleigh, E.S. and Threlfall, W. 1976. Population dynamics of lice (Mallophaga) on auks (Alcidae) from Newfoundland. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 54: 16941711.Google Scholar
Foster, M.S. 1969. Synchronized life cycles in the orange-crowned warbler and its mallophagan parasites. Ecology, 50: 315323.Google Scholar
Galloway, T.D. and Lamb, R.J. 2014. Abundance and stability are species traits for four chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae, Philopteridae) on feral pigeons, Columba livia Gmelin (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae). The Canadian Entomologist, 146: 444456.Google Scholar
Galloway, T.D. and Lamb, R.J. 2015a. Seasonal population dynamics of four species of chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae, Philopteridae) on feral pigeons (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae). The Canadian Entomologist, 147: 712722.Google Scholar
Galloway, T.D. and Lamb, R.J. 2015b. Abundance and stability of populations of a chewing louse, Mulcticola macrocephalus (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae), on common nighthawks, Chordeiles minor (Caprimulgiformes: Caprimulgidae) in Manitoba, Canada. The Canadian Entomologist, 147: 723731.Google Scholar
Galloway, T.D. and Lamb, R.J. 2016. Chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera and Ischnocera) infesting woodpeckers and sapsuckers (Aves: Piciformes: Picidae) in Manitoba, Canada. The Canadian Entomologist. doi:10.4039/tce.2015.89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossi, A.A., Sharanowski, B.A., and Galloway, T.D. 2014. Anatoecus species (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) from Anseriformes in North America and taxonomic status of Anatoecus dentatus and Anatoecus icterodes . The Canadian Entomologist, 146: 598608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kettle, P.R. 1983. The seasonal incidence of parasitism by Phthiraptera on starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in England. New Zealand Entomologist, 7: 403408.Google Scholar
Malenke, J.R., Newbold, N., and Clayton, D.H. 2011. Condition-specific competition governs the geographic distribution and diversity of ectoparasites. The American Naturalist, 177: 522534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, A.G. 1981. The sex ratio in ectoparasitic insects. Ecological Entomology, 6: 155174.Google Scholar
Mironov, S.V. and Galloway, T.D. 2002. Four new species of feather mites (Acari: Analgoidea). The Canadian Entomologist, 134: 605618.Google Scholar
Moyer, B.R., Gardiner, D.W., and Clayton, D.H. 2002. Impact of feather molt on ectoparasites: looks can be deceiving. Oecologia, 131: 203210.Google Scholar
Murray, M.D. 1957. The distribution of the eggs of mammalian lice on their hosts. IV. The distribution of the eggs of Damalinia equi (Denny) and Haematopinus asini (L.) on the horse. Australian Journal of Zoology, 5: 183187.Google Scholar
Price, R.D. and Emerson, K.C. 1975. The Menacanthus (Mallophaga: Menoponidae) of the Piciformes (Aves). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 86: 779785.Google Scholar
Price, R.D., Hellenthal, R.A., and Palma, R.L. 2003. World checklist of chewing lice with host associations and leys to families and genera. In The chewing lice: world checklist and biological overview. Edited by R.D. Price, R.A. Hellenthal, R.L. Palma, K.P. Johnson, and D.H. Clayton. Illinois Natural History Survey Special Publication, Champaign, Illinois, United States of America, 24: 1448.Google Scholar
Pyle, P. and Howell, S.N.G. 1995. Flight-feather molt patterns and age in North American woodpeckers. Journal of Field Ornithology, 66: 564581.Google Scholar
Richards, W.R. 1964. A short method for making balsam mounts of aphids and scale insects. The Canadian Entomologist, 96: 963966.Google Scholar
Rózsa, L., Reiczigel, J., and Majoros, G. 2000. Quantifying parasites in samples of hosts. Journal of Parasitology, 86: 228232.Google Scholar
SYSTAT Software. 2009. SYSYAT 13, Statistics I. SYSTAT Software Inc., Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. 2003. The birds of Manitoba. Manitoba Naturalists Society, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Google Scholar