Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice
Feather holes have traditionally been suggested to be feeding traces of chewing lice (mallophagans). There is controversy whether mallophagans are the real source of feather holes. We studied mallophagan infestations and holes in tail feathers of 528 rock ptarmigan Lagopus muta collected 2007–2012 i...
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Bio One
2017
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/341 https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00255 |
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ftopinvisindi:oai:opinvisindi.is:20.500.11815/341 2024-09-09T19:46:58+00:00 Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice Stenkewitz, Ute Nielsen, Ólafur K. Skirnisson, Karl Stefansson, Gunnar Líf- og umhverfisvísindadeild (HÍ) Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences (UI) Tilraunastöð í meinafræði að Keldum (HÍ) Institute for Experimental Pathology, Keldur (UI) Raunvísindastofnun (HÍ) Science Institute (UI) Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ) School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI) Háskóli Íslands University of Iceland 2017-06 wlb.00255 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/341 https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00255 en eng Bio One Wildlife Biology;2017 http://www.bioone.org/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.00255 Stenkewitz, U., Nielsen, Ó. K., Skírnisson, K., & Stefánsson, G. (2017). Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice. Wildlife Biology, wlb.00255. doi:10.2981/wlb.00255 0909-6396 1903-220X (eISSN) https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/341 Wildlife Biology doi:10.2981/wlb.00255 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Rjúpa Lýs Sníklar info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2017 ftopinvisindi https://doi.org/20.500.11815/34110.2981/wlb.00255 2024-07-09T03:01:56Z Feather holes have traditionally been suggested to be feeding traces of chewing lice (mallophagans). There is controversy whether mallophagans are the real source of feather holes. We studied mallophagan infestations and holes in tail feathers of 528 rock ptarmigan Lagopus muta collected 2007–2012 in northeast Iceland. Three mallophagans were found, Amyrsidea lagopi (prevalence 13%), Goniodes lagopi (72%) and Lagopoecus affinis (51%). The prevalence of feather holes was 15% and based on pattern the holes could be separated into two groups termed feather hole swarms (FHS), prevalence 9%, and single holes (SH), prevalence 6%. Holes for FHS were concentrated in the central tail feathers and decreased outwards, but holes for SH did not show any such pattern. There was a significant positive relationship between the number of holes for FHS birds and A. lagopi number, and the prevalence was similar. No other combinations of FHS or SH and the mallophagans indicated any relationship. The observed differences between FHS and SH suggest that feather holes have different origin. Our thesis based on known feeding habits of amblycerans like A. lagopi is that the holes in FHS are created during the pin feather stage when the lice bite the pin feather to draw blood. The holes in FHS were often in lines parallel to the feather shaft and the distance between adjacent holes was similar to the daily growth band, and where apparent the holes were sitting in the light portion of the band suggesting diurnal rhythm in lice feeding activity. Concluding, feather holes in ptarmigan may have various origins, but there is a clear correlation between the presence and numbers of A. lagopi and FHS. This is a novel finding for the grouse family and the genus Amyrsidea and should be a valuable contribution to the studies of feather hole formation. This project was funded by the Icelandic Research Fund (grant no. 090207021), Icelandic Hunter's Fund, Landsvirkjun Energy Fund, Inst, for Experimental Pathology, Keldur, Univ. of Iceland and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Lagopus muta rock ptarmigan Opin vísindi (Iceland) Wildlife Biology wlb.00255 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Opin vísindi (Iceland) |
op_collection_id |
ftopinvisindi |
language |
English |
topic |
Rjúpa Lýs Sníklar |
spellingShingle |
Rjúpa Lýs Sníklar Stenkewitz, Ute Nielsen, Ólafur K. Skirnisson, Karl Stefansson, Gunnar Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice |
topic_facet |
Rjúpa Lýs Sníklar |
description |
Feather holes have traditionally been suggested to be feeding traces of chewing lice (mallophagans). There is controversy whether mallophagans are the real source of feather holes. We studied mallophagan infestations and holes in tail feathers of 528 rock ptarmigan Lagopus muta collected 2007–2012 in northeast Iceland. Three mallophagans were found, Amyrsidea lagopi (prevalence 13%), Goniodes lagopi (72%) and Lagopoecus affinis (51%). The prevalence of feather holes was 15% and based on pattern the holes could be separated into two groups termed feather hole swarms (FHS), prevalence 9%, and single holes (SH), prevalence 6%. Holes for FHS were concentrated in the central tail feathers and decreased outwards, but holes for SH did not show any such pattern. There was a significant positive relationship between the number of holes for FHS birds and A. lagopi number, and the prevalence was similar. No other combinations of FHS or SH and the mallophagans indicated any relationship. The observed differences between FHS and SH suggest that feather holes have different origin. Our thesis based on known feeding habits of amblycerans like A. lagopi is that the holes in FHS are created during the pin feather stage when the lice bite the pin feather to draw blood. The holes in FHS were often in lines parallel to the feather shaft and the distance between adjacent holes was similar to the daily growth band, and where apparent the holes were sitting in the light portion of the band suggesting diurnal rhythm in lice feeding activity. Concluding, feather holes in ptarmigan may have various origins, but there is a clear correlation between the presence and numbers of A. lagopi and FHS. This is a novel finding for the grouse family and the genus Amyrsidea and should be a valuable contribution to the studies of feather hole formation. This project was funded by the Icelandic Research Fund (grant no. 090207021), Icelandic Hunter's Fund, Landsvirkjun Energy Fund, Inst, for Experimental Pathology, Keldur, Univ. of Iceland and ... |
author2 |
Líf- og umhverfisvísindadeild (HÍ) Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences (UI) Tilraunastöð í meinafræði að Keldum (HÍ) Institute for Experimental Pathology, Keldur (UI) Raunvísindastofnun (HÍ) Science Institute (UI) Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ) School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI) Háskóli Íslands University of Iceland |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stenkewitz, Ute Nielsen, Ólafur K. Skirnisson, Karl Stefansson, Gunnar |
author_facet |
Stenkewitz, Ute Nielsen, Ólafur K. Skirnisson, Karl Stefansson, Gunnar |
author_sort |
Stenkewitz, Ute |
title |
Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice |
title_short |
Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice |
title_full |
Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice |
title_fullStr |
Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice |
title_sort |
feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice |
publisher |
Bio One |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/341 https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00255 |
genre |
Iceland Lagopus muta rock ptarmigan |
genre_facet |
Iceland Lagopus muta rock ptarmigan |
op_relation |
Wildlife Biology;2017 http://www.bioone.org/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.00255 Stenkewitz, U., Nielsen, Ó. K., Skírnisson, K., & Stefánsson, G. (2017). Feather holes of rock ptarmigan are associated with amblyceran chewing lice. Wildlife Biology, wlb.00255. doi:10.2981/wlb.00255 0909-6396 1903-220X (eISSN) https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/341 Wildlife Biology doi:10.2981/wlb.00255 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11815/34110.2981/wlb.00255 |
container_title |
Wildlife Biology |
container_start_page |
wlb.00255 |
_version_ |
1809916449668464640 |