Abstract
We studied the ectoparasite and the Amblyopinini beetle fauna associated with four small mammal species of the Atlantic Rainforest of Ilha Grande, an island located off the southern Rio de Janeiro State Coast, Southeastern Brazil, analyzing to what extent the parasites were specific to each region of the host body. During the study, a total of 90 individual rodents were captured: 61 Proechimys iheringi Thomas, 1911 (Echymyidae), 22 Sciurus aestuans (Thomas, 1901) (Sciuridae), 4 Oxymycterus sp. (Waterhouse, 1837), and 2 Nectomys squamipes (Brants, 1827) (Sigmodontinae). The data showed that the ectoparasites and Amblyopinini on some rodent hosts in Ilha Grande tend to prefer particular host body sites, and that some ectoparasite species sites may overlap owing to their inaccessibility to the host.
Highlights
The space use pattern of organisms in the environment and microhabitat vary between species and is affected by biotic and abiotic factors which in turn depend on the scale of the organism considered (Marshall, 1981; Guimarães & Papavero, 1999)
We present the results of a study of space use of some ectoparasites on rodent body surfaces in the Atlantic Rainforest of Ilha Grande, and the differences found in site preferences on a host body by each species
Most of the data is on P. iheringi, the most frequently captured rodent species and the easiest host to manipulate without information loss
Summary
The space use pattern of organisms in the environment and microhabitat vary between species and is affected by biotic and abiotic factors which in turn depend on the scale of the organism considered (Marshall, 1981; Guimarães & Papavero, 1999). Information in the literature on patterns of spatial use of bodies of small mammals by their ectoparasites is meager (e.g., Castro et al, 1990, 1995, 1996a, 1996b; Cicchino & Castro, 1994; Pereira, 1994) These studies generally by include only drawings of preferred oviposition sites for some louse species such as Hoplopleura reducta Ferris, 1921 – Hoplopleuridae: Anoplura (Castro et al, 1990); H. neotomydis Castro et al, 1995 – Hoplopleuridae: Anoplura (Castro et al, 1995); H. chelemydis Castro et al, 1996 – Hoplopleuridae: Anoplura (Castro et al, 1996a); Trymenopon hispidum (Burmeister, 1838) – Trimenoponidae: Mallophaga, Gyropus ovalis Burmeister, 1838, Gliricola procelli (Schrank, 1781) – Gyropidae: Mallophaga and Pterophthirus imitans Werneck, 1942 – Hoplopleuridae: Anoplura (Castro et al, 1996b) and Gyropus parvus (Ewing, 1924), and Phtheiropoios rionegrensis Cicchino & Castro, 1994 – Gyropidae: Mallophaga (Cicchino & Castro, 1994). Diptera: Cuterebridae (Pereira, 1994)
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