TY - JOUR
T1 - Phthiraptera and acari collected from 13 species of waterfowl from Alabama and Georgia
AU - Garbarino, Valentina R.
AU - Campbell, Joshua W.
AU - O'Brien, Joseph
AU - Proctor, Heather C.
AU - Dik, Bilal
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - Waterfowl, including ducks, geese, rails and others, are host to a great diversity of ectosymbiotic arthropods. In this study, we collected ectosymbionts from waterfowl and analyzed taxon richness and total abundance to determine whether there were differences in the mite and louse assemblages of waterfowl of different species, genera, sexes, and feeding behaviors. Data were collected from 53 individual birds from 13 waterfowl species and 5 waterfowl genera taken from Georgia and Alabama. A total of 11 louse species and 7 feather and nasal mite species were collected from the waterfowl samples. Fulica americana (American Coot) harbored the highest louse abundance and taxon richness but had the lowest abundance of mites. Most significant results were driven by the Fulica assemblage. Significant sex differences were detected only between male and female anseriform birds, in which female hosts demonstrated higher mean numbers of ischnoceran lice than male hosts. No significant differences in mite abundance between waterfowl sex or genera were observed, but more mite taxa were found on diving waterfowl than on dabbling species. These data will help to provide a foundation for future research on the ecology of waterfowl ectosymbionts in the southeastern United States.
AB - Waterfowl, including ducks, geese, rails and others, are host to a great diversity of ectosymbiotic arthropods. In this study, we collected ectosymbionts from waterfowl and analyzed taxon richness and total abundance to determine whether there were differences in the mite and louse assemblages of waterfowl of different species, genera, sexes, and feeding behaviors. Data were collected from 53 individual birds from 13 waterfowl species and 5 waterfowl genera taken from Georgia and Alabama. A total of 11 louse species and 7 feather and nasal mite species were collected from the waterfowl samples. Fulica americana (American Coot) harbored the highest louse abundance and taxon richness but had the lowest abundance of mites. Most significant results were driven by the Fulica assemblage. Significant sex differences were detected only between male and female anseriform birds, in which female hosts demonstrated higher mean numbers of ischnoceran lice than male hosts. No significant differences in mite abundance between waterfowl sex or genera were observed, but more mite taxa were found on diving waterfowl than on dabbling species. These data will help to provide a foundation for future research on the ecology of waterfowl ectosymbionts in the southeastern United States.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880105618&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84880105618&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1656/058.012.0214
DO - 10.1656/058.012.0214
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84880105618
SN - 1528-7092
VL - 12
SP - 413
EP - 426
JO - Southeastern Naturalist
JF - Southeastern Naturalist
IS - 2
ER -