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Eads DA, Yashin AC, Noble LE, Vasquez MC, Huang MHJ, Livieri TM, Dobesh P, Childers E, Biggins DE. Managing plague on prairie dog colonies: insecticides as ectoparasiticides. JOURNAL OF VECTOR ECOLOGY : JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR VECTOR ECOLOGY 2020; 45:82-88. [PMID: 32492281 DOI: 10.1111/jvec.12375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Human health practitioners and wildlife biologists use insecticides to manage plague by suppressing fleas (Siphonaptera), but insecticides can also kill other ectoparasites. We investigated effects of deltamethrin and fipronil on ectoparasites from black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus, BTPDs). In late July, 2018, we treated three sites with 0.05% deltamethrin dust and 5 sites with host-fed 0.005% fipronil grain. Three non-treated sites functioned as experimental baselines. We collected ectoparasites before treatments (June-July, 2018) and after treatments (August-October, 2018, June-July, 2019). Both deltamethrin and fipronil suppressed fleas for at least 12 months. Deltamethrin had no detectable effect on mites (Arachnida). Fipronil suppressed mites for at least 12 months. Lice (Phthiraptera) were scarce on non-treated sites throughout the study, complicating interpretation. Concentrating on eight sites where all three ectoparasites where found in June-July, 2018 (before treatments), flea intensity was greatest on BTPDs carrying many lice and mites. These three ectoparasites co-occurred at high numbers, which might facilitate plague transmission in some cases. Lethal effects of insecticides on ectoparasite communities are potentially advantageous in the context of plague management.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Eads
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, U.S.A
| | - Alexis C Yashin
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, U.S.A
| | - Lauren E Noble
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, U.S.A
| | - Michele C Vasquez
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, U.S.A
| | - Miranda H J Huang
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, U.S.A
| | | | - Phillip Dobesh
- U.S. Forest Service, Wall Ranger District, Wall, SD, 57790, U.S.A
| | - Eddie Childers
- National Park Service, Badlands National Park, Interior, SD, 57750, U.S.A
| | - Dean E Biggins
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, U.S.A
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Durden LA, Robinson C, Cook JA, McLean BS, Nyamsuren B, Greiman SE. A New Species of Sucking Louse from the Long-Tailed Ground Squirrel, Urocitellus undulatus, from Mongolia, with a Key to Species, and a Review of Host Associations and Geographical Distributions of Members of the Genus Linognathoides (Psocodea: Anoplura: Polyplacidae). J Parasitol 2019. [DOI: 10.1645/18-198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lance A. Durden
- Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30458
| | - Chase Robinson
- Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30458
| | - Joseph A. Cook
- Museum of Southwestern Biology and Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
| | - Bryan S. McLean
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
| | - Batsaikhan Nyamsuren
- Department of Biology, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 11000
| | - Stephen E. Greiman
- Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30458
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Eads DA. Parasitism of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs by Linognathoides cynomyis (Phthiraptera: Polyplacidae). JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2019; 56:280-283. [PMID: 30239780 DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjy163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The following study investigates louse parasitism of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus (Ord, Rodentia: Sciuridae)) on 20 plots at 13 colonies in the short-grass prairie of New Mexico, USA, June-August, 2011-2012. Among 124 lice collected from 537 prairie dogs during 1,207 sampling events in which anesthetized animals were combed for ectoparasites, all of the lice were identified as Linognathoides cynomyis (Kim, Phthiraptera: Polyplacidae). Data were analyzed under an information-theoretic approach to identify factors predicting louse parasitism. Lice were most prevalent on plots with high densities of prairie dogs. At the scale of hosts, lice were most abundant on prairie dogs in poor body condition (with low mass:foot ratios) and prairie dogs harboring large numbers of fleas (Siphonaptera, mostly Oropsylla hirsuta (Baker, Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) and Pulex simulans (Baker,Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)). Lice have been implicated as supplemental vectors of the primarily flea-borne bacterium Yersinia pestis (Yersin, Enterobacteriales: Yersiniaceae), a re-emerging pathogen that causes sylvatic plague in prairie dog populations. Coparasitism by lice and fleas, as found herein, might enhance plague transmission. L. cynomyis deserves attention in this context.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Eads
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
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Larson OR, Platt SG, Horse ZF, Rainwater TR, Miller SM. Distribution Records and Comments on Fleas in Southwestern South Dakota. WEST N AM NATURALIST 2011. [DOI: 10.3398/064.071.0211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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