Especificidade de ectoparasitas em uma comunidade de aves no leste do estado do Pará

Abstract

Birds have high temperatures and a large amount of feathers that together form a favorable microclimate for numerous ectoparasites. Little is known about the ecology and life cycles of avian ectoparasites in South America. The purpose of this study is to inventory the ectoparasite fauna, evaluating the specificity and parasite load in some wild birds collected in Belém and Caxiuanã. Feather samples infested with ectoparasites were taken from birds captured in both regions, and skin ectoparasites were also collected in October and November 1996. All birds collected were of the order Passeriformes. Of the 26 birds collected in Caxiuanã, 2 were infested only by mites of the Proctophyllodidae family, 9 by the Analgidae family, 7 by ticks of the Ixodidae family, and only 2 birds were infested by both the ProctophylIodidae and Analgidae families at the same time. In the 20 birds collected in Belém, all had parasitism by the Proctophyllodidae family. The Proctophyllodidae family comprises feather mites found primarily on birds of the order Passeriformes and that even with intense infestations do not cause visible damage to the host. The Analgidae family comprises feather mites that have preferences for types of feathers; and finally the Ixodidae family comprises hematophagous mites that parasitize birds and other animals. No birds were found parasitized with all 3 mite families at the same time. A comparison with data from Marini et. aI. (1996) on the prevalence of ectoparasites in other tropical birds, allows us to conclude that there is specificity between birds and their ectoparasites.