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Host body microcosm and ectoparasite infracommunities: arthropod ectoparasites are not spatially segregated

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2012

SHAI PILOSOF ,
MARCELA LARESCHI  and
BORIS R. KRASNOV
SHAI PILOSOF
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
MARCELA LARESCHI
Affiliation:
Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel Center for Parasitological Studies and Vectors (CEPAVE, National Research and Technological Council, La Plata National University, Argentina), Calle 2 N 584, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
BORIS R. KRASNOV*
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
*
*Corresponding author: Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel. Tel: + 972 8 6588764. Fax: +972 8 6586369. E-mail: krasnov@bgu.ac.il
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Summary

We studied the distribution of ectoparasite species (an ixodid tick, a chigger mite, 7 mesostigmate mites, 5 fleas and 3 lice) on bodies of 5 species of rodent hosts from the marshlands in Argentina to establish whether arthropod ectoparasites are segregated across body parts of the same host individual. We asked (a) whether an individual ectoparasite species prefers certain parts of the body of its host and, if yes, whether these preferences overlap among ectoparasite species; (b) whether ectoparasite species composition differs among different parts of a host's body; and (c) whether co-occurrences of ectoparasite species within pre-defined body parts of a host are non-random and, if yes, whether ectoparasites co-occur in the same body part of a host either less or more often than expected by chance. It was found that, in general, ectoparasite species were not segregated across body parts of a host. Although some ectoparasites preferred certain body parts, these preferences were similar among ectoparasites belonging to different species and/or higher taxa resulting in similarity among host body parts in ectoparasite species composition. In addition, ectoparasite species demonstrated a tendency to co-occur on the same body parts of a host and not to be segregated among them. It was concluded that the distribution of ectoparasites on the body of a small mammalian host is driven mainly by their interaction with the host rather than by distinct preferences or interactions among ectoparasite species.

Keywords

body partco-occurrenceectoparasitesgroomingrodentssimilarity
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 139 , Issue 13 , November 2012 , pp. 1739 - 1748
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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