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Sex ratio in flea infrapopulations: number of fleas, host gender and host age do not have an effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2008

B. R. KRASNOV ,
G. I. SHENBROT ,
I. S. KHOKHLOVA ,
H. HAWLENA  and
A. A. DEGEN
B. R. KRASNOV*
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel Ramon Science Center, P.O. Box 194, 80600 Mizpe Ramon, Israel
G. I. SHENBROT
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel Ramon Science Center, P.O. Box 194, 80600 Mizpe Ramon, Israel
I. S. KHOKHLOVA
Affiliation:
Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
H. HAWLENA
Affiliation:
Ramon Science Center, P.O. Box 194, 80600 Mizpe Ramon, Israel Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
A. A. DEGEN
Affiliation:
Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
*
*Corresponding author: Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel. Tel: +972 8 6596841. Fax: +972 8 6596772. E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

This study set out to determine whether the sex ratio of fleas collected from host bodies is a reliable indicator of sex ratio in the entire flea population. To answer this question, previously published data on 18 flea species was used and it was tested to see whether a correlation exists between the sex ratio of fleas collected from host bodies and the sex ratio of fleas collected from host burrows. Across species, the female:male ratio of fleas on hosts correlated strongly with the female:male ratio of fleas in their burrows, with the slope of the regression overlapping 1. Controlling for flea phylogeny by independent contrasts produced similar results. It was also ascertained whether a host individual is a proportional random sampler of male and female fleas and whether the sex ratio in flea infrapopulations depends on the size of infrapopulations and on the gender and age of a host. Using field data, the sex ratio in infrapopulations of 7 flea species parasitic on 4 rodent species was analysed. Populations of 3 species (Nosopsyllus iranus, Parapulex chephrenis and Xenopsylla conformis) were significantly female-biased, whereas male bias was found in 1 species (Synosternus cleopatrae). In general, the sex ratio of fleas collected from an individual rodent did not differ significantly from the sex ratio in the entire flea population. Neither host gender, and age nor number of fleas co-occurring on a host affected (a) the sex ratio in flea infrapopulations and (b) the probability of an infrapopulation to be either female- or male-biased.

Keywords

fleashost agehost genderinfrapopulation sizesex ratiorodents
Type
Original Articles
Information
Parasitology , Volume 135 , Issue 9 , August 2008 , pp. 1133 - 1141
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

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