Seasonal Occurrence of Fleas (Siphonaptera) on Rodents in a Foothills Habitat in Larimer County, Colorado, USA

Campos, E. G.; Maupin, Gary O.; Barnes, Allan M.; Eads, R. B.

doi:10.1093/jmedent/22.3.266

Cited by 11 publications

(27 citation statements)

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“…A comparison of frequency distributions of principal host species per region and principal host genera per region suggests that when fleas use different mammals as their principal host, these different host species often belong to the same genus. For example, within each of 6 regions where Peromyscopsylla hesperomys was recorded, it attained maximal local abundance on different host species ( Peromyscus nasutus in New Mexico (Morlan 1955); Peromyscus truei in central California (Linsdale and Davis 1956); Onychomys leucogaster in Idaho (Allred 1968); Peromyscus leucopus in Connecticut (Main 1983); Neotoma mexicana in Colorado (Campos et al 1985); and Peromyscus boylii in southern California (Davis et al 2002)). All of these hosts belong to the same subfamily (Neotominae) and 4 of them are congeners.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale‐invariance of niche breadth in fleas parasitic on small mammals

Krasnov¹,

Mouillot²,

Khokhlova³

et al. 2008

Ecography

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The resource specialization or niche breadth of a species is not fixed across populations, but instead varies over geographical space. A species may be a local specialist but a regional generalist, if it uses locally few resources that are substitutable across locations. In contrast, a species is a local generalist and a regional specialist if it uses locally many resources that cannot be substituted from 1 location to the next. Scale-dependence can thus be a major factor in estimation of niche breadth. Here, we test for relationships between local and global estimates of host specificity (a measure of niche breadth for parasites) in fleas (Siphonaptera) parasitic on small mammals from 49 different regions within the Holarctic. Across all fleas, we found a strong, positive relationship between the number of host species that a flea uses in 1 locality and the number of different host species that can serve as the flea's principal host (i.e. the one supporting the most fleas in a region) among all regions. Also, we observed a strong positive relationship between the taxonomic distinctness of the host species used in 1 locality and that of all known principal hosts among all localities. These relationships held after correcting for potentially confounding phylogenetic influences. We discuss the implications of scale-independent host specificity and its association with geographical range size and species-specific patterns of host use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale‐invariance of niche breadth in fleas parasitic on small mammals

Krasnov¹,

Mouillot²,

Khokhlova³

et al. 2008

Ecography

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“…One site characterized by Ellis and Ramankutty (2008) as intermediate (Walton and Hong 1976) was reclassiWed as urban and another "intermediate" site (Davis et al 2002) was reclassiWed as wild because the study areas were too small to be mapped at the scale of the anthropocentric biome map. Four intermediate sites (Campos et al 1985;Chenchijtikul et al 1983;Coutrip et al 1973;Graves et al 1974;Poorbaugh and Gier 1961) were wild at the time of study but had rapidly converted to agriculture by 2005.…”

Section: Classiwcation Schemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic disturbance and the risk of flea-borne disease transmission

Friggens

Beier

2010

Oecologia

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Anthropogenic disturbance may lead to the spread of vector-borne diseases through effects on pathogens, vectors, and hosts. Identifying the type and extent of vector response to habitat change will enable better and more accurate management strategies for anthropogenic disease spread. We compiled and analyzed data from published empirical studies to test for patterns among flea and small mammal diversity, abundance, several measures of flea infestation, and host specificity in 70 small mammal communities of five biomes and three levels of human disturbance: remote/wild areas, agricultural areas, and urban areas. Ten of 12 mammal and flea characteristics showed a significant effect of disturbance category (six), biome (four), or both (two). Six variables had a significant interaction effect. For mammal-flea communities in forest habitats (39 of the 70 communities), disturbance affected all 12 characteristics. Overall, flea and mammal richness were higher in remote versus urban sites. Most measures of flea infestation, including percent of infested mammals and fleas/mammal and fleas/mammal species increased with increasing disturbance or peaked at intermediate levels of disturbance. In addition, host use increased, and the number of specialist fleas decreased, as human disturbance increased. Of the three most common biomes (forest, grassland/savanna, desert), deserts were most sensitive to disturbance. Finally, sites of intermediate disturbance were most diverse and exhibited characteristics associated with increased disease spread. Anthropogenic disturbance was associated with conditions conducive to increased transmission of flea-borne diseases.

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“…In this study, we sought to address if enzootic Y. pestis circulates in Mexican woodrats ( Neotoma mexicana ) living in a shrub‐grassland community within the Rocky Mountain foothills of eastern Colorado where plague is common in small mammal communities (Campos et al 1985). Barnes (1993) identified woodrats and their associated flea species as a regionally important host‐flea complex in the western United States that may serve to amplify plague.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enzootic plague reduces survival of Mexican woodrats (Neotoma mexicana) in Colorado

et al. 2021

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Plague is a flea‐vectored disease introduced to North America c. 1900. It is lethal to many American mammal species, causes major die‐offs (epizootics) in some populations, and may be ecologically disruptive even at lower interepizootic (enzootic) levels of transmission. We sought to determine the effects of enzootic plague on survival of Mexican woodrats (Neotoma mexicana) and to test the hypothesis that the causative bacterium Yersinia pestis can be maintained by a highly plague‐susceptible species like these woodrats. We compared apparent survival for woodrats in groups with and without plague management. Woodrat groups were (1) treated for vector control with an insecticide (deltamethrin), (2) vaccinated against plague, (3) treated with both vaccine and vector control, and (4) without plague management treatments. Flea prevalence on woodrats was reduced >90% in response to deltamethrin. Apparent survival during May–September, 2010, was 31.1% for non‐vaccinated adult woodrats living in deltamethrin‐treated nests, compared to 9.6% for woodrats in non‐treated nests. During May–September of 2010 and 2011, vaccinated juvenile woodrat survival was 16.8%, compared to 8.4% for non‐vaccinated juveniles. Peak numbers of woodrats captured were 139 for the first trapping session of 2010 and 76 for the first session of 2011, suggesting a population decline consistent with the relatively low estimated survival rates. Survival results suggest that this highly plague‐susceptible species can locally maintain enzootic plague while encountering substantial rates of mortality.

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Seasonal Occurrence of Fleas (Siphonaptera) on Rodents in a Foothills Habitat in Larimer County, Colorado, USA

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Scale‐invariance of niche breadth in fleas parasitic on small mammals

Scale‐invariance of niche breadth in fleas parasitic on small mammals

Anthropogenic disturbance and the risk of flea-borne disease transmission

Enzootic plague reduces survival of Mexican woodrats (Neotoma mexicana) in Colorado

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