—Parasites have been identified as potential threats to mammalian carnivores, particularly insular species. We evaluated external parasites on island spotted skunks (Spilogale gracilis amphiala), a threatened insular endemic carnivore on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands of the California Channel Islands (USA). We identified fleas (Pulex irritans, Nosopsyllus fasciatus), lice (Neotrichodectes m...

Within many species, males are often more heavily parasitised than females. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, including immunocompetence handicaps, sexual size dimorphism and behavioural differences. Here we set out to test the latter two hypotheses and make inferences about the former by assessing patterns of ectoparasitism across various life-history stages in ...

Surveys in 2001, 2005, and 2006 attempted to determine the role of wildlife in maintenance and dissemination of the tropical bont tick, Amblyomma variegatum (F.) (Acari: Ixodidae), in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Small mammals; birds; white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann); and feral cattle, Bos taurus L., were examined at nine premises, in mountainous rain forest, and in sur...

The squirrel Callosciurus erythraeus (Pallas) (Rodentia: Sciuridae) was intentionally introduced to Japan in 1935 and has become established throughout much of the country. Although they live mainly in forests, Pallas squirrels come into gardens and are frequently fed by people or kept as pets, so their ectoparasites could be of potential medical as well as veterinary importance. During 2001-20...

The structure and composition of populations may be molded by multiple evolutionary and ecological mechanisms, with natural selection affecting sex ratios as well as the distributions of each sex throughout the environment. To address sex-based aspects of population structure, I evaluated sex ratios, co-occurrence of the sexes, correlations of abundance of the sexes, and dispersion of individua...

In altricial [helpless] birds, ectoparasite [external parasite] exposure during development may elicit a costly immune response requiring nestlings to redistribute energy away from growth and development and towards parasite defense. That altricial nestlings are born with an immature immune system may have implications for the mechanisms they use for immune defense. I studied how nestlings defe...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of ectoparasite infestations in stray dogs in Mazandaran, Gilan and Qazvin Provinces in fall and winter in 2013(December to March). METHODS Seventy dogs in 2013, from these Provinces were examined for ectoparasite infestation and diagnosis of them based on parasitological methods and identification keys was done. RESULT...

Responses of the northern fowl mite (NFM), Ornithonyssus sylviarum (Canestrini & Fanzago) (Acari: Macronyssidae), and the chicken body louse (CBL), Menacanthus stramineus (Nitzsch) (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), to variation in temperature, light, and humidity were assessed in bioassays. The location on a continuous thermal gradient atwhich each ectoparasite arrested was recorded and analyzed. NF...