Potential evidence of parasite avoidance in an avian malarial vector

2012 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Lalubin ◽  
Pierre Bize ◽  
Juan van Rooyen ◽  
Philippe Christe ◽  
Olivier Glaizot
Keyword(s):  
Malarial Vector ◽  
Parasite Avoidance

scholarly journals Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1751) ◽  
pp. 20170256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecile Sarabian ◽  
Val Curtis ◽  
Rachel McMullan
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Disease Avoidance ◽  
Behavioural Science ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Society Meeting ◽  
Neural Architecture ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Parasite Avoidance ◽  
Behavioural Adaptations

All free-living animals are subject to intense selection pressure from parasites and pathogens resulting in behavioural adaptations that can help potential hosts to avoid falling prey to parasites. This special issue on the evolution of parasite avoidance behaviour was compiled following a Royal Society meeting in 2017. Here we have assembled contributions from a wide range of disciplines including genetics, ecology, parasitology, behavioural science, ecology, psychology and epidemiology on the disease avoidance behaviour of a wide range of species. Taking an interdisciplinary and cross-species perspective allows us to sketch out the strategies, mechanisms and consequences of parasite avoidance and to identify gaps and further questions. Parasite avoidance strategies must include avoiding parasites themselves and cues to their presence in conspecifics, heterospecifics, foods and habitat. Further, parasite avoidance behaviour can be directed at constructing parasite-retardant niches. Mechanisms of parasite avoidance behaviour are generally less well characterized, though nematodes, rodents and human studies are beginning to elucidate the genetic, hormonal and neural architecture that allows animals to recognize and respond to cues of parasite threat. While the consequences of infection are well characterized in humans, we still have much to learn about the epidemiology of parasites of other species, as well as the trade-offs that hosts make in parasite defence versus other beneficial investments like mating and foraging. Finally, in this overview we conclude that it is legitimate to use the word ‘ disgust' to describe parasite avoidance systems, in the same way that ‘fear' is used to describe animal predator avoidance systems. Understanding disgust across species offers an excellent system for investigating the strategies, mechanisms and consequences of behaviour and could be a vital contribution towards the understanding and conservation of our planet's ecosystems. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.

scholarly journals Anti-parasite behaviour of birds

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1751) ◽  
pp. 20170196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Bush ◽  
Dale H. Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Additional Research ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Host Fitness ◽  
Nest Maintenance ◽  
Bacteria And Fungi ◽  
Parasite Avoidance

Birds have many kinds of internal and external parasites, including viruses, bacteria and fungi, as well as protozoa, helminths and arthropods. Because parasites have negative effects on host fitness, selection favours the evolution of anti-parasite defences, many of which involve behaviour. We provide a brief review of anti-parasite behaviours in birds, divided into five major categories: (i) body maintenance, (ii) nest maintenance, (iii) avoidance of parasitized prey, (iv) migration and (v) tolerance. We evaluate the adaptive significance of the different behaviours and note cases in which additional research is particularly needed. We briefly consider the interaction of different behaviours, such as sunning and preening, and how behavioural defences may interact with other forms of defence, such as immune responses. We conclude by suggesting some general questions that need to be addressed concerning the nature of anti-parasite behaviour in birds. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours’.

scholarly journals Brood parasitism selects for no defence in a cuckoo host

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1719) ◽  
pp. 2777-2783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Krüger
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Adaptive Behaviour ◽  
Arms Races ◽  
Defence Behaviour ◽  
Egg Mimicry ◽  
Evolutionary Lag ◽  
Thick Shells ◽  
Defence Strategies ◽  
Coevolutionary Arms Race ◽  
Parasite Avoidance

In coevolutionary arms races, like between cuckoos and their hosts, it is easy to understand why the host is under selection favouring anti-parasitism behaviour, such as egg rejection, which can lead to parasites evolving remarkable adaptations to ‘trick’ their host, such as mimetic eggs. But what about cases where the cuckoo egg is not mimetic and where the host does not act against it? Classically, such apparently non-adaptive behaviour is put down to evolutionary lag: given enough time, egg mimicry and parasite avoidance strategies will evolve. An alternative is that absence of egg mimicry and of anti-parasite behaviour is stable. Such stability is at first sight highly paradoxical. I show, using both field and experimental data to parametrize a simulation model, that the absence of defence behaviour by Cape bulbuls ( Pycnonotus capensis ) against parasitic eggs of the Jacobin cuckoo ( Clamator jacobinus ) is optimal behaviour. The cuckoo has evolved massive eggs (double the size of bulbul eggs) with thick shells, making it very hard or impossible for the host to eject the cuckoo egg. The host could still avoid brood parasitism by nest desertion. However, higher predation and parasitism risks later in the season makes desertion more costly than accepting the cuckoo egg, a strategy aided by the fact that many cuckoo eggs are incorrectly timed, so do not hatch in time and hence do not reduce host fitness to zero. Selection will therefore prevent the continuation of any coevolutionary arms race. Non-mimetic eggs and absence of defence strategies against cuckoo eggs will be the stable, if at first sight paradoxical, result.

scholarly journals Studies on the Bacillus sphaericus Larvicidal Activity against Malarial Vector Species in Amazonia

1998 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iléa Brandão Rodrigues ◽  
Waderli Pedro Tadei ◽  
José Manoel C Silva Dias
Keyword(s):  
Larvicidal Activity ◽  
Bacillus Sphaericus ◽  
Vector Species ◽  
Malarial Vector

Parasite avoidance: the cause of post-calving migrations in Rangifer?

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 2423-2429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivar Folstad ◽  
Arne C. Nilssen ◽  
Odd Halvorsen ◽  
Johan Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Parasitic Infections ◽  
Larval Abundance ◽  
Infective Stage ◽  
Migration Distance ◽  
Behavioural Adaptation ◽  
Summer Grazing ◽  
Parasite Avoidance ◽  
Hypoderma Tarandi

Intensities of warble fly larvae, Hypoderma tarandi (L.), were examined in slaughtered reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus L.) from different summer grazing areas of Finnmark County, northern Norway. To test the hypothesis that larval abundance decreases with increase in post-calving migration distance (i.e., distance from calving grounds), herds with differing migration distances were sampled. The prevalence of infection in the total sample of 1168 animals was 99.9%. The study revealed significant differences in larval abundance among herds from different summer grazing areas. Herds with post-calving migrations have significantly lower larval abundances than herds remaining on or near the calving grounds for the whole summer. Between-herds variation in abundance of H. tarandi larvae is assumed to reflect differing densities of the infective stage (adult flies) on the herds' summer ranges. Larval abundance in a herd is in turn negatively correlated with the distance between the main larval shedding areas (i.e., calving grounds) and the areas of greatest transmission (i.e., summer pastures). These results are discussed in relation to transmission of other parasites common to Rangifer and suggest that this host's post-calving migration may be a behavioural adaptation that reduces levels of parasitic infections.

Potential mode of action of a novel plumbagin as a mosquito repellent against the malarial vector Anopheles stephensi, (Culicidae: Diptera)

2016 ◽  
Vol 134 ◽  
pp. 84-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkatraman Pradeepa ◽  
Sengottayan Senthil-Nathan ◽  
Subbiah Sathish-Narayanan ◽  
Selvaraj Selin-Rani ◽  
Prabhakaran Vasantha-Srinivasan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mode Of Action ◽  
Anopheles Stephensi ◽  
Mosquito Repellent ◽  
Potential Mode ◽  
Malarial Vector

scholarly journals Genetically resistant sheep avoid parasites to a greater extent than do susceptible sheep

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1620) ◽  
pp. 1839-1844 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R Hutchings ◽  
K.J Knowler ◽  
R McAnulty ◽  
J.C McEwan
Keyword(s):  
Immune Function ◽  
Genetic Resistance ◽  
Livestock Breeding ◽  
Breeding Programmes ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Forage Intake ◽  
Host Behaviour ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Parasite Avoidance

Livestock breeding programmes have created resistant (R) and susceptible (S) sheep that differ in their ability to control parasites through their immune function but potentially also their grazing behaviour (i.e. parasite avoidance). Using the Perendale genetic lines, we tested the hypothesis that R-sheep avoid parasites more effectively, reducing their parasite exposure/challenge, compared with S-sheep. However, in grazing systems, parasite-rich areas are also forage rich, suggesting that parasite avoidance behaviours are associated with nutritional penalties. We first created a naturally heterogeneous sward structure of gaps and tussocks and then used focal behavioural observations to quantify the sward selection of R- and S-sheep. Tussock swards were more nitrogen rich (41%), offered increased forage intake rates (32%) and contained 17 times more parasite larvae than gap swards. All the animals avoided grazing the tussock swards. However, the R-sheep grazed the tussock swards to a lesser degree than the S-sheep. We conclude that selection for genetic resistance has resulted in animals that, despite being well armed to fight parasitism through improved immune function, adopt parasite avoidance strategies with associated nutritional disadvantages. This experiment highlights the role of host behaviour in the control of parasitism and suggests that animals can be bred to avoid disease.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document