Functional and Evolutionary Ecology of Fleas: A Model for Ecological Parasitology

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ISBN: 9780521882774 | 052188277X
Cover: Hardcover
Copyright: 6/16/2008

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Fleas are one of the most interesting and fascinating taxa of ectoparasites. All species in this relatively small order are obligatory haematophagous (blood-feeding) parasites of higher vertebrates. This book examines how functional, ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes of host-parasite relationships are realized in this particular system. As such it provides an in-depth case study of a host-parasite system, demonstrating how fleas can be used as a model taxon for testing ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. The book moves from basic descriptive aspects, to functional issues and finally to evolutionary explanations. It extracts several general principles that apply equally well to other host-parasite systems, so it appeals not only to flea biologists but also to 'mainstream' parasitologists and ecologists.

Preface	p. ix
Brief descriptive ecology: what do fleas do?
Composition of the order	p. 3
Infraorders and families	p. 3
Temporal pattern of discovery of flea species	p. 4
Hosts of Siphonaptera	p. 9
Avian and mammalian hosts	p. 9
'Realized' and available hosts	p. 10
Number of flea species among host orders	p. 15
Fleas, small mammals and biogeography	p. 16
Concluding remark	p. 17
Geographical distribution of fleas	p. 18
General patterns of geographical distribution	p. 18
Fleas on islands	p. 21
Size of geographical range	p. 22
Relationship between flea and host(s) geographical ranges	p. 25
Concluding remark	p. 28
Origin and evolution of fleas	p. 29
Ancestral and sister taxa	p. 29
Origin of flea parasitism	p. 32
Phylogenetic relationships within Siphonaptera	p. 33
Cophylogeny of fleas and their hosts	p. 34
Flea diversification: intrahost speciation, host-switching or climate?	p. 41
Concluding remarks	p. 44
Life cycles	p. 45
Mating and oviposition	p. 45
Larvae	p. 48
Pupae	p. 51
Imago	p. 52
Seasonality	p. 54
Concluding remark	p. 67
Fleas and humanity	p. 68
Medical aspects	p. 68
Veterinary aspects	p. 72
Fleas in human habitats	p. 74
Concluding remarks	p. 76
Functional ecology: how do fleas do what they do?
Ecology of sexual dimorphism, gender differences and sex ratio	p. 79
Sexual dimorphism	p. 79
Physiological gender differences	p. 82
Gender differences in behaviour	p. 90
Gender differences in responses to environmental factors	p. 91
Sex ratio as an ecological consequence of gender differences	p. 93
Concluding remarks	p. 102
Ecology of flea locomotion	p. 103
On-host locomotion	p. 103
Off-host locomotion	p. 104
Concluding remark	p. 114
Ecology of host selection	p. 115
Evolutionary scale: principal and auxiliary hosts	p. 116
Ecological scale: host selection	p. 122
Fleas and the ideal free distribution	p. 130
Distribution of fleas on the body of a host	p. 141
Time spent on- and off-host	p. 147
Concluding remarks	p. 153
Ecology of haematophagy	p. 154
Mouthparts and host skin	p. 154
Measures of feeding success	p. 156
Host-related effects	p. 162
Flea-related effects	p. 173
Environment-related effects	p. 178
Concluding remarks	p. 181
Ecology of reproduction and pre-imaginal development	p. 182
Measures of reproductive success	p. 182
Host-related effects	p. 185
Flea-related effects	p. 199
Environment-related effects	p. 206
Concluding remarks	p. 216
Ecology of flea virulence	p. 217
Host metabolic rate	p. 218
Host body mass and growth rate	p. 223
Host haematological parameters	p. 227
Host features related to sexual selection	p. 228
Host behaviour	p. 229
Host survival	p. 232
Host fitness	p. 235
Concluding remarks	p. 237
Ecology of host defence	p. 239
First line of defence: avoidance	p. 240
Second line of defence: repelling or killing fleas	p. 243
Third line of defence: immune response against fleas	p. 255
Concluding remarks	p. 278
Evolutionary ecology: why do fleas do what they do?
Ecology and evolution of host specificity	p. 283
Measures of host specificity	p. 283
Variation in host specificity among flea species	p. 285
Host specificity and evolutionary success	p. 295
Host specificity and host features	p. 303
Evolution of host specificity: direction, reversibility and conservatism	p. 308
Applicative aspects of host specificity studies	p. 314
Concluding remarks	p. 320
Ecology of flea populations	p. 321
Measuring abundance and distribution	p. 322
Is abundance a flea species character?	p. 324
Aggregation of fleas among host individuals	p. 328
Biases in flea infestation	p. 338
Relationship between flea abundance and prevalence	p. 352
Factors affecting flea abundance and distribution	p. 356
Concluding remarks	p. 374
Ecology of flea communities	p. 375
Are flea communities structured?	p. 377
Local versus regional processes governing flea communities	p. 386
Inferring patterns of interspecific interactions	p. 391
Negative interspecific interactions	p. 401
Similarity in flea communities: geographical distance or similarity in host composition?	p. 405
Concluding remarks	p. 408
Patterns of flea diversity	p. 410
Flea diversity and host body	p. 411
Flea diversity and host gender	p. 415
Flea diversity and host population	p. 415
Flea diversity and host community	p. 417
Flea diversity and host geographical range	p. 424
Flea diversity and the off-host environment	p. 425
Flea diversity and parasites of other taxa	p. 431
Concluding remarks	p. 435
Fleas, hosts, habitats	p. 436
The Middle East	p. 437
Central Europe	p. 443
Other examples	p. 451
Concluding remarks	p. 454
What further efforts are needed?	p. 455
Where we are now and what do we have?	p. 456
What do we lack?	p. 458
Not only a pure science...	p. 463
References	p. 466
Index	p. 583
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Functional and Evolutionary Ecology of Fleas: A Model for Ecological Parasitology

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