Department of Biodiversity Studies & Bioeducation, University of Łódź, Banacha 1/3, 90-237, Łódź, Poland.
Rojna 37/21, 91-134 Łódź, Poland.
J Wildl Dis. 2020 Apr;56(2):414-418. Epub 2019 Oct 9.
Louse flies are blood-sucking ectoparasites of birds and mammals of veterinary and medical importance. These flies damage host skin and serve as vectors for blood-associated pathogens. Little is known about their phenology, host selection, and prevalence in wild birds. Our study provided a broad-scale assessment of louse flies parasitizing Charadrii and Scolopaci shorebirds during their migration through Central Europe. We collected louse flies from 3,129 specimens in 22 species of shorebirds at a major migratory stopover site in central Poland in 2011-17. In total, 31 and 15 specimens occurred on five wader species: Common Snipe (), Ruff (), Dunlin (), Curlew Sandpiper (), and Wood Sandpiper (). Prevalences ranged from 0.23% to 4.62%. No individual birds were infested by both species of fly, and no flies were found on an additional 17 wader species. The rarer of the two flies, , occurred on all infested bird species, whereas occurred only on Common Snipe and Curlew Sandpiper. In comparison with the other four infested wader species, Common Snipe (=1,194) was more frequently infested with than with . Our study shows that the prevalence of louse flies on shorebirds is much lower than on other avian taxa. Ecologic and evolutionary mechanisms leading to the relative rarity of louse flies on shorebirds remain to be understood.
虱蝇是一种吸血的外寄生虫，对兽医和医学领域的鸟类和哺乳动物具有重要意义。这些蝇类会损害宿主的皮肤，并作为血液相关病原体的载体。目前，人们对它们的物候学、宿主选择和在野生鸟类中的流行情况知之甚少。我们的研究对 2011 年至 2017 年间在波兰中部一个主要迁徙中途停留点迁徙的 Charadrii 和 Scolopaci 涉禽身上寄生的虱蝇进行了广泛评估。我们共从 22 种涉禽的 3129 个标本中采集了虱蝇，这些涉禽在波兰中部的一个主要迁徙中途停留点迁徙。总共有 31 只 和 15 只虱蝇出现在五种滨鸟身上：普通杓鹬 ()、红腹滨鹬 ()、黑腹滨鹬 ()、弯嘴滨鹬 () 和林鹬 ()。流行率范围为 0.23%至 4.62%。没有一只鸟同时被两种蝇寄生，另外 17 种滨鸟身上也没有发现蝇。两种蝇中较少见的 出现在所有受感染的鸟类物种上，而 只出现在普通杓鹬和弯嘴滨鹬上。与其他四种受感染的滨鸟相比，普通杓鹬 (=1,194) 受 感染的频率高于 。我们的研究表明，虱蝇在滨鸟身上的流行率远低于其他鸟类。导致虱蝇在滨鸟中相对较少的生态和进化机制仍有待理解。
