Museum-Based Research on the Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) Infestations of Hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae)—Prevalence, Genus Richness and Parasite Associations

We documented the presence/absence of the eggs of <i>Trochiloecetes</i>, <i>Trochiliphagus</i>, and <i>Leremenopon</i> lice on over 50,000 hummingbird specimens (representing 348 species plus 247 additional subspecies) in four museums in the USA. (i) We provide sa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yoshika Oniki-Willis, Edwin O. Willis, Leonardo E. Lopes, Lajos Rózsa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Diversity
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/1/54
Description
Summary:We documented the presence/absence of the eggs of <i>Trochiloecetes</i>, <i>Trochiliphagus</i>, and <i>Leremenopon</i> lice on over 50,000 hummingbird specimens (representing 348 species plus 247 additional subspecies) in four museums in the USA. (i) We provide sample estimates of infestation prevalence. (ii) Sample estimates of parasite genus richness increased with increasing host sample size. (iii) Host body mass did not correlate with parasite genus richness, even when controlled for sample size effects. (iv) The prevalence of <i>Trochiliphagus</i> and <i>Trochiloecetes</i> infestations did not correlate with host body mass, while the prevalence of <i>Leremenopon</i> exhibited a marginally significant positive correlation with host body mass. (v) The prevalence of <i>Trochiliphagus</i> and <i>Leremenopon</i> infestations correlated strongly and positively across host taxa (i.e., species or subspecies). (vi) The co-occurrence of <i>Trochiliphagus</i> and <i>Trochiloecetes</i> within the few largest host samples—i.e., within particular host taxa—was significantly more frequent than expected by chance. This latter association might indicate a true ecological relationship or, alternatively, might have emerged as an artifact of our sampling method. (vii) We found no relationship between host sexual size dimorphism and the prevalence of any of the three louse genera, contrary to the interspecific prediction of the Hamilton–Zuk hypothesis.
ISSN:1424-2818