Chewing lice Trichodectes pinguis pinguis in Scandinavian brown bears ( Ursus arctos )

In April 2014 and 2015, we noted localized alopecia (neck, forelimbs, and chest) and hyperpigmentation on two adult brown bears (Ursus arctos) captured in central-south Sweden for ecological studies under the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project. In spring 2015, a brown bear was shot because of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
Main Authors: Esteruelas, Nuria Fandos, Malmsten, Jonas, Bröjer, Caroline, Grandi, Giulio, Lindström, Anders, Brown, Paul, Swenson, Jon E., Evans, Alina L., Arnemo, Jon Martin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2016
Subjects:
Alopecia
Biting lice
Brown bear
Sweden
Trichodectes pinguis
Ursus arctos
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2430652
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2016.02.002
Description
Summary:In April 2014 and 2015, we noted localized alopecia (neck, forelimbs, and chest) and hyperpigmentation on two adult brown bears (Ursus arctos) captured in central-south Sweden for ecological studies under the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project. In spring 2015, a brown bear was shot because of human- wildlife conflict in the same region. This bear also had extensive alopecia and hyperpigmentation. Ec- toparasites were collected from the affected skin areas in all three individuals and preserved in ethanol for identification. Based on morphological characteristics, the lice were identified as Trichodectes spp. and Trichodectes pinguis pinguis. To our knowledge, these are the first reported cases of chewing lice in free- ranging brown bears in Scandinavia.

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