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31 March 2020 Louse Flies of Charadrii and Scolopaci Shorebirds Migrating through Central Europe
Maciej Bartos, Radosław Włodarczyk, Tomasz Iciek, Anna Piasecka, Tomasz Janiszewski, Piotr Minias
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Abstract

Louse flies are blood-sucking ectoparasites of birds and mammals of veterinary and medical importance. These flies damage host skin and serve as vectors for blood-associated pathogens. Little is known about their phenology, host selection, and prevalence in wild birds. Our study provided a broad-scale assessment of louse flies parasitizing Charadrii and Scolopaci shorebirds during their migration through Central Europe. We collected louse flies from 3,129 specimens in 22 species of shorebirds at a major migratory stopover site in central Poland in 2011–17. In total, 31 Ornithomya avicularia and 15 Ornithomya chloropus specimens occurred on five wader species: Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), Ruff (Calidris pugnax), Dunlin (Calidris alpina), Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea), and Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola). Prevalences ranged from 0.23% to 4.62%. No individual birds were infested by both species of fly, and no flies were found on an additional 17 wader species. The rarer of the two flies, O. chloropus, occurred on all infested bird species, whereas O. avicularia occurred only on Common Snipe and Curlew Sandpiper. In comparison with the other four infested wader species, Common Snipe (n=1,194) was more frequently infested with O. avicularia than with O. chloropus. Our study shows that the prevalence of louse flies on shorebirds is much lower than on other avian taxa. Ecologic and evolutionary mechanisms leading to the relative rarity of louse flies on shorebirds remain to be understood.

© Wildlife Disease Association 2020
Maciej Bartos, Radosław Włodarczyk, Tomasz Iciek, Anna Piasecka, Tomasz Janiszewski, and Piotr Minias "Louse Flies of Charadrii and Scolopaci Shorebirds Migrating through Central Europe," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 56(2), 414-418, (31 March 2020). https://doi.org/10.7589/2019-01-018
Received: 16 January 2019; Accepted: 26 June 2019; Published: 31 March 2020
KEYWORDS
birds
Charadrii
Common Snipe
ectoparasites
Hippoboscidae
prevalence
Scolopaci
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