@article {40291,
	title = {Ectoparasites, fitness, and social behaviour of yellow-bellied marmots},
	journal = {Ethology},
	volume = {102},
	year = {1996},
	month = {1996},
	pages = {686 - 694},
	abstract = {Parasites can cause a loss of fitness for their hosts, potentially influencing social behaviour patterns of the host that promote or hinder parasite transmission. I studied yellow- bellied marmots (Marmoto flaviventris) and their ectoparasites to determine if ectoparasites reduce the fitness of marmots and to test whether ectoparasite loads differ according to social behaviour. Three taxa of ectoparasites were identified, fleas (Oropsylla stanfordi), lice (Linognathoides marmotae), and mites (family Dermanyssidae). nigh ectoparasite loads were related to slower growth, lower overwinter survival, and reduced reproduction, suggesting that ectoparasites are a fitness cost for marmots. Ectoparasite loads were not higher in colonial than in noncolonial marmots, nor in polygynous than in monogamous adult males. There was a trend, however, toward higher ectoparasite lords in marmots that were dispersing rather than philopatric. Further, ectoparasite loads differed among groups of marmots that nested or hibernated communally, indicating that spatial scale is important in understanding the relationships between parasites and social behaviour.},
	keywords = {cliff, coloniality, cost, dispersal, Dog Diseases, group, Natal, parasitism, Parus, swallows},
	author = {van Vuren,D.}
}
@article {40224,
	title = {Louse loads of pied flycatchers - effects of hosts sex, age, condition and relatedness},
	journal = {Journal of Avian Biology},
	volume = {26},
	year = {1995},
	month = {1995},
	pages = {203 - 208},
	abstract = {This study documents patterns of variation in abundance and prevalence of Docophorulus capillatus (Insecta: Ischnocera, Philopteridae) on the crown feathers of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca in relation to host sex, age, survival, physical condition, expression of secondary sexual traits and genetic relatedness. Louse populations were relatively stable over a S-year period, with low prevalences in the range 15-30\%. Pair mates had similar louse loads, indicating the possible role of direct contact between birds as an agent of louse dispersal. Females were consistently more heavily and frequently infested than males at almost all ages. Louse prevalence and abundance tended to decrease or oscillate with advancing age, with a major peak late in life which was much more marked in females; no surviving birds older than five years had lice on their crown. Although bird condition in a given year seemed not to be affected by louse infestations, there were decreases in individual condition between years which were linked to increases in louse infestations in females. Individual birds of both sexes had similar louse loads in successive years. Within-family resemblance in louse loads was only detected between mothers and daughters and, to a lesser extent, between females and their male offspring. We discuss different hypotheses to account for intersexual differences in parasite infestation.},
	keywords = {bright, coloniality, dispersal, ectoparasite, Ficedula, Hirundo, mate, parasite, plumage, rustica, Spain, swallows},
	url = {http://www.phthiraptera.info/sites/phthiraptera.info/files/2900.pdf},
	author = {Potti,J. and Merino,S.}
}
