A simple trapping method to estimate abundances of blood-sucking flying insects in avian nests

Tomás, Gustavo; Merino, Santiago; Puente, Josué Martínez‐de la; Moreno, Juan; Morales, Judith; Lobato, Elisa

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.08.018

Cited by 43 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(94 reference statements)

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“…Wooden nest boxes were hung from branches about 4 m above the ground. When nestlings were 10 days old, we placed a plastic Petri dish (10 × 4 cm; 40 cm 2 ) with a thinly spread layer of body gel oil (Johnson's baby chamomilla; Johnson & Johnson, Dusseldorf) inside the nesting box, close to the roof, to capture flying insects (see Tomás et al 2008b). The gel oil comprised paraffinum liquidum, hexyl laurate, ethylene/ propylene/styrene copolymer, cyclopentasiloxane, butylene/ ethylene/styrene copolymer, Chamomilla recutita, bisabolol and fragrance (FPT1353).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…mosquitoes, biting midges and black flies) during incubation and brooding, with nestlings also suffering these attacks until fledging (Tomás et al 2008b;Ligon et al 2009;Martínez-de la Puente et al 2009a). These insects produce adverse effects on birds, including the transmission of blood parasites and tissue damage, affecting health status and survival probability (Smith et al 1998;Tomás et al 2008a;Martínez-de la Puente et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

et al. 2011

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Bird susceptibility to attacks by blood-sucking flying insects could be influenced by urogypial gland secretions. To determine the effect of these secretions on biting midges and black flies, we set up a series of tests. First, we placed uropygial gland secretions from blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus broods inside empty nest boxes while empty nest boxes without gland secretions were treated as controls. Blue tit broods, from which we had obtained uropygial secretions, were affected by biting midges and black flies. However, these insects were absent in nest boxes both with and without secretions from nestlings' uropygial glands. We subsequently tested for the effects of uropygial gland secretions from feral pigeons Columba livia monitoring the number of biting midges captured using miniature CDC traps. There was no significant difference in the number of biting midges captured. Overall, our results did not support a potential role of avian uropygial gland secretions in attracting biting midges and black flies.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

et al. 2011

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“…Repellents may affect the probabil- Our results support the efficacy of this plant-derived repellent as an effective method to reduce the abundance of biting midges Culicoides and blackflies in wild avian nests. To date, many ornithological and parasitological studies have used insecticides to carry out experimental modifications of the abundance of nestdweller ectoparasites in avian nests (i.e., Merino and Potti 1998;Merino et al 1999;Tomás et al 2007;Lobato et al 2008); however, this procedure may not be an effective method to reduce the total abundance of flying blood-feeder insects (see Tomás et al 2008a). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Periodical visits in the course of the breeding season allowed us to record hatching date and brood size of each nest. To capture flying insects, we placed inside and close to the roof of each nest box a plastic Petri dish with a thinly spread layer of body gel oil following the method described and tested by Tomás et al (2008a). Petri dishes were placed in nest boxes when nestlings were 10 days old.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, to our knowledge, all of these studies are correlative, probably due to the absence of an effective method to carry out experimental modifications of the abundance of these insects in avian nests. Previously, the fumigation treatment of blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus nests with an insecticide solution comprising 0.5% permethrin and 1% piperonyl butoxide did not affect the total abundance of biting midges (Tomás et al 2008a), although it was effective reducing the abundance of biting midge Culicoides engorged females (females with a recent blood meal in their abdomen; Martínez-de la Puente et al submitted). In this context, the use of insect repellents could be an effective alternative to the use of insecticides.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing the use of a citronella-based repellent as an effective method to reduce the prevalence and abundance of biting flies in avian nests

et al. 2009

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Here, we validate the use of a citronella (natural oil) based repellent to reduce the abundance of flying blood-sucking insects in avian nests. These insects are important parasites of birds affecting them as blood feeders and as vectors of a diversity of pathogens. When nestling were 10 days old, we assigned wild great tit Parus major nests to one of two treatments, control and fumigated nests. The abundance of biting midges and blackflies captured during 3 days following the treatment application were lower in fumigated nests with respect to control ones. By contrast, the abundance of blowfly pupae measured when nestlings left their nests was not affected by the treatment. Although many experimental studies modify the abundance of nest-dweller ectoparasites, to our knowledge, this is the first one describing an easy, safe, and effective method, reducing the total abundance of both biting midges and blackflies in wild avian nests. Our results could be used in future conservation projects and experimental studies on host-parasite evolution affecting the abundance of flying blood-feeder insects under natural conditions.

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Interspecific transfer of parasites following a range‐shift in Ficedula flycatchers

Jones

Kulma

Bensch

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Human‐induced climate change is expected to cause major biotic changes in species distributions and thereby including escalation of novel host‐parasite associations. Closely related host species that come into secondary contact are especially likely to exchange parasites and pathogens. Both the Enemy Release Hypothesis (where invading hosts escape their original parasites) and the Novel Weapon Hypothesis (where invading hosts bring new parasites that have detrimental effects on native hosts) predict that the local host will be most likely to experience a disadvantage. However, few studies evaluate the occurrence of interspecific parasite transfer by performing wide‐scale geographic sampling of pathogen lineages, both within and far from host contact zones. In this study, we investigate how haemosporidian (avian malaria) prevalence and lineage diversity vary in two, closely related species of passerine birds; the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca and the collared flycatcher F. albicollis in both allopatry and sympatry. We find that host species is generally a better predictor of parasite diversity than location, but both prevalence and diversity of parasites vary widely among populations of the same bird species. We also find a limited and unidirectional transfer of parasites from pied flycatchers to collared flycatchers in a recent contact zone. This study therefore rejects both the Enemy Release Hypothesis and the Novel Weapon Hypothesis and highlights the complexity and importance of studying host‐parasite relationships in an era of global climate change and species range shifts.

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A simple trapping method to estimate abundances of blood-sucking flying insects in avian nests

Cited by 43 publications

References 43 publications

Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

Testing the use of a citronella-based repellent as an effective method to reduce the prevalence and abundance of biting flies in avian nests

Interspecific transfer of parasites following a range‐shift in Ficedula flycatchers

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