Louse Flies (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) on the Courish Spit (Kaliningrad Province, Russia)

Abstract

Louse flies (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) were collected off 38 species of birds from 16 genera of 14 families and 5 orders. Birds were captured in large funnel traps and mist nets on the Courish Spit (Kaliningrad Province, Russia). Five species of ornithophilic louse flies were found: Ornithomya avicularia (Linnaeus, 1758), O. chloropus (Bergroth, 1901), O. fringillina (Curtis, 1856), O. comosa (Austen, 1930), and Crataerina hirundinis (Linnaeus, 1758); besides, the mammalophilic species Lipoptena fortisetosa (Maa, 1965) was recorded on a non-specific bird host. The association of louse flies with their hosts, infestation parameters, collection data, and general geographic distribution of the recorded louse fly species are considered. The overall infestation of birds with louse flies was low. The louse fly fauna of Kaliningrad Province is compared with the faunas of the adjacent territories.