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Composition and distribution of lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) on Colombian and Peruvian birds: New data on louse-host association in the Neotropics
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Composition and distribution of lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) on Colombian and Peruvian birds: New data on louse-host association in the Neotropics

Juliana Soto-Patiño, Gustavo A Londoño, Kevin P Johnson, Jason D Weckstein, Jorge Enrique Avendaño, Therese A Catanach, Andrew D Sweet, Andrew T Cook, Jill E Jankowski and Julie Allen
Biodiversity data journal, v 6(6), pp e21635-e21635
28 Aug 2018
PMID: 30271250
url
https://doi.org/10.3897/bdj.6.e21635View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0 Open
url
https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e21635View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Americas Biodiversity & Conservation Cenozoic Ectoparasites Feather Lice Phthiraptera Tropical Forests
The diversity of permanent ectoparasites is likely underestimated due to the difficulty of collecting samples. Lice ( Insecta : Phthiraptera ) are permanent ectoparasites of birds and mammals; there are approximately 5,000 species described and many more undescribed, particularly in the Neotropics. We document the louse genera collected from birds sampled in Peru (2006–2007) and Colombia (2009–2016), from 22 localities across a variety of ecosystems, ranging from lowland tropical forest and Llanos to high elevation cloud forest. We identified 35 louse genera from a total of 210 bird species belonging to 37 avian families and 13 orders. These genera belong to two suborders and three families of lice: Amblycera , families Menoponidae (present on 131 bird species) and Ricinidae (39 bird species); and Ischnocera , family Philopteridae (119 bird species). We compared our bird-louse associations with data in Price et al. (2003) and recently published Neotropical studies. The majority of bird-louse associations (51.9%) were new, with most of these coming from Passeriformes , the most diverse avian order, with the most poorly known louse fauna. Finally, we found geographical variation in louse infestation and prevalence rates. With this study, we report the first comprehensive documentation of bird-louse associations for Colombia and substantially increase the known associations documented for Peru.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Biodiversity Conservation
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