Open AccessPromiscuous specialists: Host specificity patterns among generalist louse flies
Author(s) -
Aleksi Lehikoinen,
Pekka Pohjola,
Jari Valkama,
Marko Mutanen,
Jaakko L. O. Pohjoismäki
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0247698
Subject(s) - louse , generalist and specialist species , biology , host (biology) , ecology , zoology , habitat
Ectoparasites such as louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) have tendency for host specialization, which is driven by adaptation to host biology as well as competition avoidance between parasites of the same host. However, some louse fly species, especially in genera attacking birds, show wide range of suitable hosts. In the presented study, we have surveyed the current status of bird specific louse flies in Finland to provide comprehensive host association data to analyse the ecological requirements of the generalist species. A thorough sampling of 9342 birds, representing 134 species, recovered 576 specimens of louse flies, belonging to six species: Crataerina hirundinis , C . pallida , Ornithomya avicularia , O . chloropus , O . fringillina and Ornithophila metallica . Despite some overlapping hosts, the three Ornithomya species showed a notable pattern in their host preference, which was influenced not only by the host size but also by the habitat and host breeding strategy. We also provide DNA barcodes for ten Finnish species of Hippoboscidae, which can be used as a resource for species identification as well as metabarcoding studies in the future.