Fleas (Siphonaptera) in the Nests of Dormice (Gliridae: Rodentia) in Lithuania.
Negative effects of flea (Siphonaptera) parasitism on the host may be expressed in different ways. The aim of this study was to assess distribution of the flea fauna in nests of dormice in Lithuania. Nests of Glis glis (L.), Dryomys nitedula (Pallas), and Muscardinus avellanarius (L.) were collected from nest boxes in 2012 and 2013. Fleas were collected from nests in the laboratory and put into plastic tubes with 70% ethanol. Flea species were identified using morphological keys. From 400 nest boxes, 112 nests of dormice were collected from eight sites from mixed forests of central Lithuania. Twenty-three nests of G. glis were collected from nest boxes, with 16 of them containing 286 fleas belonging to four species: Ceratophyllus sciurorum (Schrank) (259), C. gallinae (Schrank) (23), Hystrichopsylla talpae (Curtis) (3), and Megabothris turbidus (Rothschild) (1). Fourteen nests of M. avellanarius were collected from nest boxes, 4 of which contained 224 fleas belonging to two species: C. sciurorum (221) and C. gallinae (3). Twenty-four nests of D. nitedula were collected from nest boxes, including 17 containing 207 fleas belonging to two species: C. sciurorum (205) and C. gallinae (2). Fifty-one nests of undetermined dormice species also were collected from nest boxes, 12 of them contained 395 fleas belonging to three species: C. sciurorum (374), Ctenophthalmus agyrtes (Heller) (19), and Ctenophthalmus assimilis (Taschenberg) (2). C. sciurorum was a predominant species in the nests of dormice. The occurrence of C. gallinae was documented in Lithuania for the first time.
Department of Biology, Vytautas Magnus University, Vileikos str. 8, 44404 Kaunas, Lithuania.
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Lipatova
Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Löfflerova str., 04001 Košice, Slovakia.
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Stanko
Department of Biology, Vytautas Magnus University, Vileikos str. 8, 44404 Kaunas, Lithuania. a.paulauskas@gmf.vdu.lt.
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Paulauskas
Department of Biology, Vytautas Magnus University, Vileikos str. 8, 44404 Kaunas, Lithuania.
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Spakovaite
Kaunas Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum, Laisvės al. 106, 44253 Kaunas, Lithuania.
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Gedminas
D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D058267:Flea Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008097:Lithuania / Q000453:epidemiology; D046330:Myoxidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D012621:Seasons; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
Gliridae; Siphonaptera; dormice; dormouse nest; flea