Abstract
The aim of this study was to report the species of haematophagous parasitic mites of Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) and analyze the infestation rates regarding to gender, body mass, and total length of the hosts. To do so, each of the 100 house sparrows captured in the urban area of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, was identified by gender, weighed, and measured. The mite collection was carried out after applying an ectoparasite-repelling talc in the body of the birds. Pellonyssus reedi was found in 29 house sparrows with mean intensity of 8.37 mites/host and Ornithonyssus bursa was found in two birds, only one male host showing co-infestation. The prevalence and mean intensity of P. reedi between male and female adults did not show significant difference, nor was there any correlation among species abundance, body mass, and total length of the house sparrows. We report the occurrence of P. reedi and O. bursa parasitizing P. domesticus in the southern of Brazil.
Highlights
The birds are hosts of many symbiotic animals and some of the most diverse are the mites (Arachnida: Acariformes and Parasitiformes) (Knee & Galloway, 2017)
This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of Macronyssidae mites related to P. domesticus and analyze the infestation rates regarding to gender, as well as the effects of mites in the body mass and total length of hosts native to urban areas, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern of Brazil
(Zump & Patterson, 1952) has occurred in 29% of the hosts (14 females house sparrows were infested by 190 mites of this specie, 14 males house sparrows were infested by 50 mites, and the undetermined juvenile contained three mites)
Summary
The birds are hosts of many symbiotic animals and some of the most diverse are the mites (Arachnida: Acariformes and Parasitiformes) (Knee & Galloway, 2017). The house sparrow, Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Passeriformes: Passeridae), is a nonmigratory bird, terrestrial, which can adapt itself to agricultural, urban and suburban environments, taking advantage of human action, occupying constructed areas which can serve as shelter and nesting (Major et al, 2004). These species come from Eurasia and the north of Africa, and has intentionally been introduced in America (Global Invasive Species Database, 2018). It was inserted in Brazil in 1906 for biological control of insects and, currently, are scattered across all Brazilian territory (Sick, 1997)
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