Insects found in birds’ nests from Argentina. Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) (Aves: Furnariidae) and their inquiline birds, the true hosts of Acanthocrios furnarii (Cordero & Vogelsang, 1928) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicidae)

Abstract

The nest of Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) [Aves: Furnariidae] is a domed mud structure, with a partition separating the breeding chamber from the outside. In general each couple builds one nest per year, but each nest is used for one clutch or two consecutive clutches in the same breeding season. Some nests can remain in the field for 2 or 3 years, but some had a longer permanence (up to more than 8 years). Thus the nests are widely used by other vertebrate inquilines. Insects found in nests of F. rufus mentioned in the literature belong to Coleoptera [Chrysomelidae (1 sp.), Histeridae (1 sp.)], Hemiptera [Cimicidae (1 sp.), Reduviidae: Triatominae (1 sp.)], Hymenoptera [Apidae: Meliponinae (1 sp.)], and Diptera [Muscidae (2 spp.)]. A total of 9 orders, 35 families (two unidentified), and 67 species of insects (including 14 identified to genus and 10 undetermined), were found in 251 nests of F. rufus sampled in Argentina (Chaco [6], Córdoba [14], Santa Fe [2], Entre Ríos [7], San Luis [1], La Pampa [12], and Buenos Aires [209]). The most abundant species was one hematophagous insect, Acanthocrios furnarii (Cordero & Vogelsang, 1928) [Hemiptera: Cimicidae], an exclusive parasite on the inquiline birds. Agelaioides badius badius (Vieillot, 1819) [Aves: Icteridae], Sicalis flaveola pelzelni Sclater, 1872 [Aves: Emberizidae], and Troglodytes aedon Vieillot, 1809 [Aves: Troglodytidae] are new hosts of A. furnarii. Progne chalybea (Gmelin, 1789) [Aves: Hirundinidae] was found for the first time infested by A. furnarii inside the nests of F. rufus. The insects in the nests of Furnarius cristatus Burmeister, 1888, and those of P. domesticus, Progne sp., S. f. pelzelni, and T. aedon outside the nests of F. rufus were also investigated. Some ticks (Acarina: Argasidae, Ixodidae) found in the nests of F. rufus and P. domesticus are mentioned.