02656nas a2200265   4500008004100000022001300041245005200054210005200106260001600158300001400174490000700188520188400195653001702079653001102096653002302107653002502130100002202155700003002177700002702207700002702234700002302261700001902284700002102303856006602324       2017                        eng d  a1383576900aChewing lice from wild birds in northern Greece0 aChewing lice from wild birds in northern Greece  cJan-10-2017  a699 - 7060 v663 a<p>Greece represents an important area for wild birds due to its geographical position and habitat diversity. Although the bird species in Greece are well recorded, the information about the chewing lice that infest them is practically non-existent. Thus, the aim of the present study was to record the species of lice infesting wild birds in northern Greece and furthermore, to associate the infestation prevalence with factors such as the age, sex, migration and social behaviour of the host as well as the time of the year. In total 729 birds, (belonging to 9 orders, 32 families and 68 species) were examined in 7 localities of northern Greece, during 9 ringing sessions from June 2013 until October 2015. Eighty (11%) of the birds were found to be infested with lice. In 31 different bird species, 560 specimens of lice, belonging to 33 species were recorded. Mixed infestations were recorded in 11 cases where birds were infested with 2&ndash;3 different lice species. Four new host-parasite associations were recorded i.e. Menacanthus curuccae from Acrocephalus melanopogon, Menacanthus agilis from Cettia cetti, Myrsidea sp. from Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, and Philopretus citrinellae from Spinus spinus. Moreover, Menacanthus si- nuatus was detected on Poecile lugubris, rendering this report the first record of louse infestation in this bird species. The statistical analysis of the data collected showed no association between parasitological parameters (prevalence, mean and median intensity and mean abundance) in two different periods of the year (breeding vs post-breeding season). However, there was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of infestation between a) migrating and sedentary passerine birds (7.4% vs 13.2%), b) colonial and territorial birds (54.5% vs 9.6%), and c) female and male birds in breeding period (2.6% vs 15.6%).</p>
10aChewing lice10aGreece10aMediterranean area10aWild passerine birds1 aDiakou, Anastasia1 aSoares, José, Bernardo P1 aAlivizatos, Haralambos1 aPanagiotopoulou, Maria1 aKazantzidis, Savas1 aLiterák, Ivan1 aSychra, Oldřich  uhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1383576917301502