Pale-headed Brush-finch Atlapetes pallidiceps is a restricted-range species that is threatened with extinction due to habitat loss. The total population of 60–80 individuals achieved a reproductive output of only 0.74 young per breeding pair in 2002. Brood parasitism by Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis was a major factor reducing breeding success, affecting 38.5% of broods. Parasitism rates ...

Avian brood parasites, including cuckoos and cowbirds, have multiple negative effects on their hosts. We analysed the effects of Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis parasitism on different components (e.g. egg losses, hatching success, chick survival and nest abandonment) of House Wren Troglodytes aedon reproductive success. We also conducted an experiment to discriminate between two mechanisms...

Plant galls are insect-induced tumor-like growths of plant tissue which nourish and protect developing insect larvae. In all published studies to date, gall size varies (1). Numerous studies demonstrate a positive relationship between success (probability of emergence of the gall-former) and gall size (2-4). Typically, increasing gall size is interpreted as an adaptation to facilitate parasitoi...

The exoskeleton or cuticle of arthropods is an important feature that contributes to their great success in colonising numerous habitats on earth. It has numerous functions among which to provide protection against parasites. Whereas often regarded as a simple physical barrier to the outside world, the immune protection of the cuticle is slightly more complex than that. Here, we provide an over...

Brood parasites are expected to lay only one egg per parasitized nest, as the existence of several parasitic nestlings in a brood increases competition and can lead starvation some them. However, multiparasitism (laying two or more eggs by females single host nest) is surprisingly frequent. Here, we study different same female (repeated parasitism) great spotted cuckoo Clamator glandarius, non-...

Shrubsteppe communities are among the most imperiled ecosystems in North America as a result of conversion to agriculture and other anthropogenic changes. In the Intermountain West of the United States, these communities support a unique avifauna, including several species that are declining and numerous others that are of conservation concern. Extensive research in the eastern and central Unit...

Food characteristics strongly regulate digestive enzymatic activity of insects through direct influences on their midgut mechanisms. Insect performance is better on diets that contain nutrients in proportions that fit its digestive enzymes. Little is known about the influences of rearing history on parasitism success of Habrobracon hebetor Say. This research focused on the effect of nutrient re...

We monitored the breeding success of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in four reed habitats (e. g. clay pits, marsh and fishponds, small canals and large canals) in northwestern Vojvodina (Serbia) between 2009 and 2011 (three breeding seasons). A total of 596 Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) nests were found and monitored. The overall parasitism rate for the study area was 0.12...

Female insects have a limited energy budget to invest in reproduction. Clutch size and egg size are two traits typically involved in energy budget trade-offs, and an optimum clutch size is generally predicted. This trade-off, however, is influenced by many factors including the probability of egg parasitism. We studied this possibility in the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa), w...