Variations in prevalence and intensity of blow fly infestations in an insular Mediterranean population of blue tits

Citation
S. Hurtrez-bousses et al., Variations in prevalence and intensity of blow fly infestations in an insular Mediterranean population of blue tits, CAN J ZOOL, 77(2), 1999, pp. 337-341
Citations number
46
Categorie Soggetti
Animal Sciences
Journal title
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE ZOOLOGIE
ISSN journal
00084301 → ACNP
Volume
77
Issue
2
Year of publication
1999
Pages
337 - 341
Database
ISI
SICI code
0008-4301(199902)77:2<337:VIPAIO>2.0.ZU;2-9
Abstract
A Corsican population of blue tits (Parus caeruleus) suffers extremely high levels of infestation by two species of blow flies (genus Protocalliphora) that have been suspected to influence the life-history traits of their hos ts. By quantifying the abundance of the blow fly larvae infesting each broo d of this population during 2 consecutive years, we showed that the distrib ution of these parasites did not differ from a Poisson distribution. The in tensity of blow fly parasitism (mean parasite load per infested nest) was i ndependent of the time of breeding and the available space in the nest of t heir bird hosts. Moreover, the total blow fly load per nest increased signi ficantly with the number of chicks, whereas the parasite load per chick was not linearly related to brood size.