Dick Carl W, Dick Sonya C
Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock 79409-3131, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2006 Mar;43(2):433-6. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2006)043[0433:eopioh]2.0.co;2.
Experimental approaches provide insight into the dynamics of species competition and coexistence, but studies of ectoparasitic arthropods are rare. Host choice experiments were undertaken in Amazonian Peru, by using obligate bat fly parasites of Seba's short-tailed bat, Carollia perspicillata (L.). The fly species Trichobius joblingi Wenzel strongly preferred clean hosts to those previously infested with individuals of T. joblingi. Abundance thresholds may limit conspecific parasites on host individuals, and similar morphologies and habitat use may increase intraspecific competition among individuals of T. joblingi. T. joblingi did not distinguish between clean hosts and those previously infested with flies of another species, Speiseria ambigua Kessel. Results suggest that the presence of a morphologically dissimilar species does not preclude subsequent colonization. Differential microhabitat selection, aided by adaptive morphology, may facilitate species coexistence among ectoparasitic bat fly species.
实验方法有助于深入了解物种竞争与共存的动态，但对外寄生节肢动物的研究却很少见。在秘鲁亚马逊地区，利用专性寄生在塞氏短尾蝠（Carollia perspicillata (L.)）身上的蝙蝠蝇寄生虫进行了宿主选择实验。蝙蝠蝇物种乔布林氏毛蠓（Trichobius joblingi Wenzel）强烈偏好选择未被乔布林氏毛蠓寄生过的干净宿主，而非已被寄生的宿主。数量阈值可能会限制宿主个体上同种寄生虫的数量，并且相似的形态和栖息地利用方式可能会增加乔布林氏毛蠓个体之间的种内竞争。乔布林氏毛蠓无法区分干净宿主和之前被另一种蝙蝠蝇——安氏斯皮氏蠓（Speiseria ambigua Kessel）寄生过的宿主。结果表明，形态不同的物种的存在并不妨碍后续的定殖。在适应性形态的辅助下，不同的微生境选择可能有助于外寄生蝙蝠蝇物种之间的共存。
