A hitchhiker’s guide to parasite transmission: The phoretic behaviour of feather lice

Harbison, Christopher W.; Jacobsen, Matthew V.; Clayton, Dale H.

doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.09.014

Cited by 62 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Harbison et al (29) showed that, in vitro, flies use grooming to dislodge lice that have been placed on them experimentally. Although flies presumably cannot groom when they are flying, newly attached lice can be groomed off once the fly has landed on a new host.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Harbison et al (16) conducted experiments with captive Rock Pigeons (Columba livia), in which they showed that wing lice (Columbicola columbae and Columbicola tschulyschman) transmit horizontally between individual pigeons by hitchhiking on hippoboscid flies. Body lice (Campanulotes compar) were not capable of phoresis because they could not remain attached to flies, even when they were placed on them experimentally (16,29). This functional constraint likely results from morphological adaptations of body lice for living in abdominal regions; they have short legs for burrowing in dense downy feathers, which limits their ability to remain attached to flies (29).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Body lice (Campanulotes compar) were not capable of phoresis because they could not remain attached to flies, even when they were placed on them experimentally (16,29). This functional constraint likely results from morphological adaptations of body lice for living in abdominal regions; they have short legs for burrowing in dense downy feathers, which limits their ability to remain attached to flies (29). In contrast, the long "outrigger" legs of wing lice provide a wide stance suited to the coarse surface of flight feathers.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Community interactions govern host-switching with implications for host–parasite coevolutionary history

Harbison

Clayton

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Reciprocal selective effects between coevolving species are often influenced by interactions with the broader ecological community. Community-level interactions may also influence macroevolutionary patterns of coevolution, such as cospeciation, but this hypothesis has received little attention. We studied two groups of ecologically similar feather lice (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) that differ in their patterns of association with a single group of hosts. The two groups, "body lice" and "wing lice," are both parasites of pigeons and doves (Columbiformes). Body lice are more host-specific and show greater population genetic structure than wing lice. The macroevolutionary history of body lice also parallels that of their columbiform hosts more closely than does the evolutionary history of wing lice. The closer association of body lice with hosts, compared with wing lice, can be explained if body lice are less capable of switching hosts than wing lice. Wing lice sometimes disperse phoretically on parasitic flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), but body lice seldom engage in this behavior. We tested the hypothesis that wing lice switch host species more often than body lice, and that the difference is governed by phoresis. Our results show that, where flies are present, wing lice switch to novel host species in sufficient numbers to establish viable populations on the new host. Body lice do not switch hosts, even where flies are present. Thus, differences in the coevolutionary history of wing and body lice can be explained by differences in host-switching, mediated by a member of the broader parasite community.coevolutionary biology | community ecology | phoresy | ectoparasites

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Community interactions govern host-switching with implications for host–parasite coevolutionary history

Harbison

Clayton

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…A higher density of a given host species increases the chances of ectoparasite transmission between inFernanda Rodrigues Fernandes et al 516 traspecific individuals (Krasnov et al 2006;Ryder et al 2007) and a higher diversity of host species increases the chances of ectoparasitic exchange between interspecific individuals if different species share the same parasites (Dobson 2004;Lareschi and Krasnov 2010;Fernandes et al 2012). The transmission of ectoparasites can occur through direct contact (Darolova et al 2001;Valera et al 2003) or rarely by phoresy, when parasites attach themselves to other more mobile individual parasites, in order to increase their dispersal distance (Houck and O'Connor 1991;Harbison et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of body size on the abundance of ectoparasitic mites on the wild rodent Oligoryzomys nigripes

Fernandes

Cruz

Linhares

et al. 2015

Acta Parasitologica

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The abundance of parasites on a host can be affected by several factors; in this study, we investigated the influence of sex and body size of the host rodent Oligoryzomys nigripes on the abundance of ectoparasitic mites (Acari: Mesostigmata). The generalized linear model indicated that body size (indicative of age) of the host rodent O. nigripes significantly contributed to the variation in the abundance of mites on host rodents at the Experimental Station of Itirapina. This trend of increased parasitism on hosts with larger body sizes may be linked to the fact that larger individuals are able to support the coexistence of a larger number of parasites, and being more mobile, are more exposed to infection by parasites.

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“…To localize their vehicles, phoretic arthropods use cues of host activity, including auditory and tactile cues (Harbison et al 2009;Owen and Mullens 2004) and infochemicals emitted by the host (Arakaki et al 1996;Bruni et al 2000;Soroker et al 2003). In some cases, vehicles are even lured by the phorents by sexual deception (Saul-Gershenz and Millar 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phoresy in the field: natural occurrence of Trichogramma egg parasitoids on butterflies and moths

Fatouros

Huigens

2011

BioControl

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Phoretic insects utilize other animals to disperse to new environments. We recently discovered how egg parasitoids use an exciting phoretic strategy to reach egg-laying sites of their butterfly hosts. In the laboratory, female Trichogramma wasps detect and mount mated female cabbage white butterflies that emit an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone. Hardly any information exists about the natural occurrence of phoresy in wasps of this genus. Therefore, we monitored the presence of phoretic Trichogramma wasps on lepidopteran hosts in the field. Only female wasps were found at low prevalence on six lepidopteran species. Wasps were mostly found on female hosts and mainly on abundant solitary host species. This is the first report of phoretic Trichogramma wasps on butterflies in nature. We suggest that phoresy is only one of several strategies used by these polyphagous egg parasitoids. The evolution of phoresy is discussed in relation to the nutritional ecology of egg parasitoids.

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A hitchhiker’s guide to parasite transmission: The phoretic behaviour of feather lice

Cited by 62 publications

References 23 publications

Community interactions govern host-switching with implications for host–parasite coevolutionary history

Community interactions govern host-switching with implications for host–parasite coevolutionary history

Effect of body size on the abundance of ectoparasitic mites on the wild rodent Oligoryzomys nigripes

Phoresy in the field: natural occurrence of Trichogramma egg parasitoids on butterflies and moths

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