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- Title
Influence of gut parasites on growth performance in the water strider <em>Gerris buenoi</em> (Hemiptera: Gerridae).
- Authors
Keddie, B. A.; Spence, J. R.; Klingenberg, C. P.; Barrington Leigh, R. H.
- Abstract
Water striders harbor a diverse assemblage of symbionts in their digestive tract. We used a field experiment, in which water striders were reared in enclosures in their natural pond habitat, to assess the effects of gut symbionts on growth. Trypanosomatid flagellates had significant adverse effects on both development time and adult size, andtherefore are clearly parasitic. Yet because of their low prevalences (2 percent or less), trypanosomatids cannot be a major factor in the dynamics of our study population. Gregarines occurred in 36 percentof the water striders, often in high numbers, and filling the entiremidgut of some bugs. Nevertheless, infected and uninfected gerrids did not differ in their growth, and gregarine loads were uncorrelated with development time and adult size attained. We also did not find effects of gregarines in a second experiment with different rearing conditions, including a treatment with food stress. We used a quantitative genetic approach to test if resistance against gregarines has a heritable component. There was no evidence for any genetic variation, suggesting that variability in gregarine loads is the result of environmental heterogeneity. Comparison with published reports from water striders shows that there is a great variability in the diversity andprevalence of symbionts among different populations and species of gerrids.
- Subjects
ENTOMOLOGY; PARASITOLOGY
- Publication
Ecography, 1997, Vol 20, Issue 1, p29
- ISSN
0906-7590
- Publication type
Article