title: Darwin's finches treat their feathers with a natural repellent.
abstract: Darwin's finches are highly innovative. Recently we recorded for the first time a behavioural innovation in Darwin's finches outside the foraging context: individuals of four species rubbed leaves of the endemic tree Psidium galapageium on their feathers. We hypothesised that this behaviour serves to repel ectoparasites and tested the repellency of P. galapageium leaf extracts against parasites that negatively affect the fitness of Darwin's finches, namely mosquitoes and the invasive hematophagous fly Philornis downsi. Mosquitoes transmit pathogens which have recently been introduced by humans and the larvae of the fly suck blood from nestlings and incubating females. Our experimental evidence demonstrates that P. galapageium leaf extracts repel both mosquitoes and adult P. downsi and also inhibit the growth of P. downsi larvae. It is therefore possible that finches use this plant to repel ectopoarasites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cimadom
authors.affiliation: Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Causton
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, USA.
authors.forename: Dong H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.affiliation: Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Damiens
authors.affiliation: Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fessl
authors.affiliation: Health and Environment Department, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Tulln, Austria.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hood-Nowotny
authors.affiliation: Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Piedad
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lincango
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, USA.
authors.forename: Alejandro E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Mieles
authors.affiliation: BirdLife Austria, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nemeth
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Semler
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Teale
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tebbich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D046369:Finches / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D007302:Insect Repellents; D008297:Male; D018515:Plant Leaves; D031647:Psidium
chemical_list: D007302:Insect Repellents