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- Title
Abundance and stability are species traits for four chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae, Philopteridae) on feral pigeons, Columba livia (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae).
- Authors
Galloway, Terry D.; Lamb, Robert J.
- Abstract
Population parameters of ectoparasites on feral pigeons, Columba livia Gmelin (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae), were estimated from 1995–2012 in southern Manitoba, Canada. The ectoparasites are chewing lice (Phthiraptera): Philopteridae – Campanulotes compar (Burmeister), Columbicola columbae (Linnaeus), and Coloceras tovornikae Tendeiro; Menoponidae – Hohorstiella lata (Piaget). We tested the hypotheses that both abundance and population stability are species-specific traits. Over 10 years, the four species of lice had distinct population dynamics. Campanulotes compar and C. columbae were more abundant than C. tovornikae and H. lata, had higher male to female sex ratios and higher ratios of nymphs to females, different levels of aggregation, and more stable populations. Campanulotes compar was more prevalent than C. columbae and its prevalence was more stable, and the two species also showed differences in the levels and stabilities of male and nymph to female ratios. Coloceras tovornikae had a higher prevalence and male to female sex ratio than H. lata, but the two species showed similar levels of stability for these parameters. The level of stability of these populations was relatively high compared with many other organisms, and in particular higher than for plant ectoparasites (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Although the four species occupy similar habitats, often on the same bird, and three of the four feed in a similar way, the population biology of each species is distinct. The life history traits that lead to these differences have yet to be determined.
- Subjects
LICE; ECTOPARASITES; FERAL pigeons; ANIMAL species; HABITATS
- Publication
Canadian Entomologist, 2014, Vol 146, Issue 4, p444
- ISSN
0008-347X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.4039/tce.2013.86