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Energy expenditure for egg production in arthropod ectoparasites: the effect of host species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2013

IRINA S. KHOKHLOVA ,
LAURA J. FIELDEN ,
JOSEPH B. WILLIAMS ,
A. ALLAN DEGEN  and
BORIS R. KRASNOV
IRINA S. KHOKHLOVA
Affiliation:
Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
LAURA J. FIELDEN
Affiliation:
School of Science and Math, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO, USA
JOSEPH B. WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
A. ALLAN DEGEN
Affiliation:
Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
BORIS R. KRASNOV*
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
*
*Corresponding author: Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel. E-mail: krasnov@bgu.ac.il
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Summary

We studied the energy cost of egg production in two flea species (Parapulex chephrenis and Xenopsylla ramesis) feeding on principal (Acomys cahirinus and Meriones crassus, respectively) and auxiliary (M. crassus and A. cahirinus, respectively) rodent hosts. We predicted that fleas feeding on principal as compared with auxiliary hosts will (a) expend less energy for egg production; (b) produce larger eggs and (c) live longer after oviposition. Both fleas produced more eggs and spent less energy per egg when exploiting principal hosts. Parapulex chephrenis produced larger eggs after exploiting auxiliary hosts, while the opposite was true for X. ramesis. After oviposition, P. chephrenis fed on the auxiliary hosts survived for a shorter time than those fed on the principal hosts, while in X. ramesis the survival time did not differ among hosts. Our results suggested that one of the proximate causes for lower reproductive performance and subsequent lower abundance of fleas on auxiliary hosts is the higher energy cost of egg production. However, in some species, lower offspring number may be compensated to some extent by their size, although this compensation may also compromise their future reproduction via decreased survival. In addition, the reproductive strategy of exploitation of low profitable (i.e. auxiliary) hosts may differ between flea species.

Keywords

Bloodegg productionenergyfleashosts
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 140 , Issue 9 , August 2013 , pp. 1070 - 1077
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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