... physiology and body mass, and whether these metrics correlate with parasitic nest mite load. We injected 14 day old nestlings with 0, 0.01, 0.1 or 1 mg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) per kg body mass, then collected a blood sample 24 h later to quantify multiple physiological metrics, including oxidative damage...

...Hans Pohl; Elena V. Gorb; Stanislav N. Gorb ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to find out how strongly the parasitic insect Stylops ovinae , which has tarsi equipped with tenent hairs and lacking claws, attaches to different substrates. We investigated adhesion of male S. ovinae to the abdomen...

...Jeffrey D. Roth; F. Stephen Dobson; François Criscuolo; Pierre Uhlrich; Alexandre Zahariev; Audrey Bergouignan; Vincent A. Viblanc ABSTRACT Parasites affect many aspects of host physiology and behavior, and thus are generally thought to negatively impact host fitness. However, changes in form...

... attachment forces on various surfaces. Biomechanics Interlocking Friction Adhesion Ecomorphology Parasitism Pulvilli Empodium Louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) are obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites of mammals and birds ( Bequaert, 1953 ). Therefore, an effective and reliable...

...Gloria Ruiz-Guzmán; José Ramos-Castañeda; Angélica Hernández-Quintero; Jorge Contreras-Garduño ABSTRACT Parasites can be transmitted vertically and/or horizontally, but the costs or benefits for the host of infection have only been tested after horizontal transmission. Here, we report for the first...

...Scott J. Swartz; Giulio A. De Leo; Chelsea L. Wood; Susanne H. Sokolow ABSTRACT Schistosomiasis – a parasitic disease that affects over 200 million people across the globe – is primarily transmitted between human definitive hosts and snail intermediate hosts. To reduce schistosomiasis transmission...

...Ajai Vyas Summary Typically, female rats demonstrate clear mate choice. Mate preference is driven by the evolutionary need to choose males with heritable parasite resistance and to prevent the transmission of contagious diseases during mating. Thus, females detect and avoid parasitized males. Over...

...S. N. Thompson; R. A. Redak; L.-W. Wang SUMMARY This investigation examined the influence of dietary protein and carbohydrate balance in a chemically defined artificial diet for Manduca sexta larvae on development of the gregarious parasite Cotesia congregata . Normal unparasitized larvae...

...S. N. Thompson; R. A. Redak; L.-W. Wang SUMMARY The influence and interaction of dietary protein:carbohydrate balance and parasitism by Cotesia congregata on nutrient intake and growth were examined over the last two larval stadia of Manduca sexta. Effects of nutritional status on host blood...

...Carol I. Miles; Ronald Booker ABSTRACT The parasitic braconid wasp Cotesia congregata lays its eggs inside the body of the larval stage of its host, the moth Manduca sexta . The Cotesia congregata larvae develop within the hemocoel of their host until their third instar, when they emerge and spin...

... of the host. In unparasitized M. sexta , however, increased octopamine levels were correlated with increased activity. We discuss possible explanations for the co-occurrence of high haemolymph octopamine levels and low behavioural arousal in parasitized M. sexta . * e-mail: [email protected]...