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CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
An experimental test of the effects of behavioral and immunological defenses against vectors: Do they interact to protect birds from blood parasites?
Parasites & vectors, Vol.7(1), pp.104-104
03/12/2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100211
PMCID: PMC4077066
PMID: 24620737
Abstract
Background: Blood-feeding arthropods can harm their hosts in many ways, such as through direct tissue damage and anemia, but also by distracting hosts from foraging or watching for predators. Blood-borne pathogens transmitted by arthropods can further harm the host. Thus, effective behavioral and immunological defenses against blood-feeding arthropods may provide important fitness advantages to hosts if they reduce bites, and in systems involving pathogen transmission, if they lower pathogen transmission rate. Methods: We tested whether Rock Pigeons (Columba livia) have effective behavioral and immunological defenses against a blood-feeding hippoboscid fly (Pseudolynchia canariensis) and, if so, whether the two defenses interact. The fly vectors the blood parasite Haemoproteus columbae; we further tested whether these defenses reduced the transmission success of blood parasites when birds were exposed to infected flies. We compared four experimental treatments in which hosts had available both purported defenses, only one of the defenses, or no defenses against the flies.
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Details
- Title
- An experimental test of the effects of behavioral and immunological defenses against vectors
- Creators
- Jessica L Waite - Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USAAutumn R Henry - Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USAJeb P Owen - Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USADale H Clayton - Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- Publication Details
- Parasites & vectors, Vol.7(1), pp.104-104
- Academic Unit
- Entomology, Department of
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Identifiers
- 99900546669201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article