Incidence of Chewing Lice (Phthiraptera: Insecta) on Common Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos (Anatidae: Anseriformes: Aves) in Karachi region, Pakistan

The chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Insecta) were examined for their population and rate of infestation on Common Mallards, Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus (Anatidae: Anseriformes: Aves) in Karachi region during the year 2015-2016. A total of 26 mallards were observed in captive of local parks in different areas of Karachi. Five species of chewing lice were reported during the survey, with their population density on host body. The data was taken from every locality by random collection method. The chewing lice species recorded with their maximum prevalence and population abundance (in parenthesis) were Holomenopon leucoxanthum (Burmeister, 1838) was 43.81 (37.53), then H. fatemae Naz and Rizvi, 2012 was 35.2 (30.15), Anaticola crassicornis (Scopoli, 1763) was 19.03 (16.30), Anatoecus icterodes (Nitzsch, 1818) was 1.88 (1.61) and Trinoton querquedulae (Linnaeus, 1758) was 0.089 (0.076) with its least population of lice on 26 birds. During survey, the population density of lice (mean±SE) in four localities during winter and summer seasons were recorded maximum in locality C (Safari Park, Karachi east) which was 82.16 (164.33±65.39) in winter and 68.16 (116.33±37.82) in summer season, whereas minimum in locality D (Hill Park PECHS, Karachi central) with 32.16 (96.5±29.43) in winter and 28 (84±23.404) in summer, respectively. The population intensity and standard deviation of all the chewing lice species in four localities were also calculated season-wise, to check out the rate of infestation of lice in mallards in Karachi region, Pakistan.