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. 2020 Aug;119(8):2579-2585.
doi: 10.1007/s00436-020-06753-w. Epub 2020 Jun 18.

Sex interacts with age-dependent change in the abundance of lice-infesting Amur Falcons (Falco amurensis)

Imre Sándor Piross  1   2 , Manju Siliwal  3 , R Suresh Kumar  4 , Péter Palatitz  5 , Szabolcs Solt  5 , Péter Borbáth  6 , Nóra Vili  7 , Nóra Magonyi  7   8 , Zoltán Vas  9 , Lajos Rózsa  10 , Andrea Harnos  1 , Péter Fehérvári  11
Affiliations

Sex interacts with age-dependent change in the abundance of lice-infesting Amur Falcons (Falco amurensis)

Imre Sándor Piross et al. Parasitol Res. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Sex-biassed and age-biassed parasite infections are common in nature, including ectoparasites-vertebrate host systems. We investigated the effect of Amur Falcons' sex, age and body size on the abundance of their lice at a migratory stopover site, where the falcons' habitat use and behaviour are more homogeneous across sex and age categories than during the breeding season. We sampled Amur Falcons in Nagaland, India at major roosting sites in 2016. We applied generalized linear models (with negative binomial distribution and log-link) to model the abundance of their two most numerous lice (Colpocephalum subzerafae and Degeeriella rufa) using the host age category (juvenile or adult) and wing length, both in interaction with sex, as explanatory variables. The abundance of C. subzerafae was only affected by host age, being nearly four times higher on juveniles than on adults. Juveniles were also more infested with D. rufa than the adults. Additionally, the abundance of the latter species was lower on adult male Falcons as compared to adult females. A juvenile bias in ectoparasite infestations is common in nature, probably due to juveniles being immunologically naïve, more resource-limited and may be inexperienced in body maintenance behaviours like preening and grooming. On the other hand, female-biassed infestations are much rarer than male-biassed infestations. We briefly discuss the possible causes of female-biassed infestations on Amur Falcons reported here, and in the closely related Red-footed Falcon and Lesser Kestrel as reported in the literature.

Keywords: Amblycera; Falconidae; Ischnocera; Louse; Phthiraptera; Sex-biassed infestation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Multiple affiliations of Imre Sándor Piross: Imre Sándor Piross started collaborating in this study as a student at the Doctoral School of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary. His current workplace (Balaton Limnological Institute, Centre for Ecological Research, Tihany, Hungary) provided time and resources to finish his work on this study and the manuscript.

Multiple affiliations of Nóra Magonyi: Nóra Magonyi is a student of the Doctoral School of Biology and Sportbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary, and conducts her work in collaboration with the Conservation Genetics Research Group, Department of Ecology, Institute for Biology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary. Both institutions provided resources for her work in this study.

The authors declare that they have no other conflict of interest.

The permit for undertaking the study including capture of Amur Falcons at the three roost sites (permit no. CWL/GEN/96 (Vol-II)/1177-85 dated 26.09.2016) was granted by the Nagaland State Forest Department, India.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Results of the GLMs modelling the mean abundance of the louse species on the Amur Falcons (Falco amurensis). The mean abundance of Colpocephalum subzerafae is higher on juveniles than on males. In the case of Degeeriella rufa, we found interaction between the sex and the age of the birds. The mean abundance of D. rufa is similarly high among juveniles for both sexes, while it is higher for adult females than adult males
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