We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Host specificity of the badger's flea ( Paraceras melis) and first detection on a bat host.
- Authors
Ancillotto, Leonardo; Mazza, Giuseppe; Menchetti, Mattia; Mori, Emiliano
- Abstract
Defining the whole spectrum of potential hosts of a parasite has large epidemiological and evolutionary implications in biology. Specialized parasites might be able to occasionally exploit a range of different host species, increasing the individual survival and the chances of successful dispersal. For long time Paraceras melis has been considered a specific flea of European badger Meles meles. Anyway, it has occasionally been reported on different hosts. In this work, we summarize the host spectrum of P. melis from literature and we report its first detection on a bat host. Ten species were identified as occasional hosts, man included, and the plasticity of this flea in host exploitation is noteworthy because of possible increase of pathogens transmission to humans and domestic species.
- Subjects
HOST specificity (Biology); LESSER horseshoe bat; BIOLOGICAL evolution; OLD World badger; PHENOTYPIC plasticity; FLEAS
- Publication
Parasitology Research, 2014, Vol 113, Issue 10, p3909
- ISSN
0932-0113
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00436-014-4136-x