Short communicationMacroparasites of Pallas's squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus) introduced into Europe
Introduction
Imported pets carry parasites from their native area (Ide et al., 2000, Yokoyama et al., 2003, Pisanu et al., 2007, Beaucournu et al., 2008, Hasegawa et al., 2008). If released, introduced hosts can transfer parasites to native host species (Asakawa, 2005, Smith and Carpenter, 2006, Bordes et al., 2007). There is also an increase in sanitary risks to humans because these pets may be more susceptible to becoming infected by pathogens through the acquisition of local vector-borne arthropods (Irwin, 2002, Beugnet and Marié, 2009). This risk has been identified for introduced squirrels (Craine et al., 1995, Shinozaki et al., 2004, Vourc’h et al., 2007, Pisanu et al., 2010). Additionally, these alien hosts can acquire new parasites originating from native hosts (Torchin and Mitchell, 2004, Asakawa, 2005, Pisanu et al., 2008, Pisanu et al., 2009). These newly acquired parasite species are often characterized by the ability of developing in a wide array of hosts, or when introduced hosts are phylogenetically close to native cohabiting host species (Asakawa, 2005, Tompkins and Poulin, 2006, Pisanu et al., 2009).
The Pallas's squirrel, Callosciurus erythraeus, is native to South-eastern Asia (Duckworth et al., 2008). It was introduced in the late 1960s (J.-M. Gourreau, personal communication) or before 1974 according to Jouanin, 1986, Jouanin, 1992; see also Gerriet, 2009) to Cap d’Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes, France). It was introduced in the early 2000s to Dadizele (Belgium; Stuyck, 2009). These populations are two of the three known ones that have been established in Western Europe; there is also a small population in the Netherlands (Dijkstra et al., 2009). The origin of these populations and the number of founders are unknown. However, the Belgian and French populations probably originated from a single introduction event.
We studied the macroparasite species of the French and Belgian populations of Pallas's squirrel to evaluate the sanitary hazards to native fauna and humans from imported or newly acquired taxa (Shinozaki et al., 2004, Vourc’h et al., 2007, Pisanu et al., 2010). We expect the parasitic population, including Arthropods and Helminths, to be made up by two groups of parasites: (1) specialist taxa imported with founder hosts, and (2) local generalist parasites.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
We studied 49 Pallas's squirrels: 20 individuals collected in an urban park in Dadizele (Flanders, Belgium, 50°51′N–3°5′E) during an eradication attempt in February until April 2008 (Stuyck, 2009); 29 squirrels from Alpes-Maritimes (France); 27 from the park of the Villa Thuret (Antibes, 43°34′N–7°7′E) between February and June 2009; and two from the Bois des Encourdoules (Vallauris, 6 km Northwest, 43°35′N, 7°3′E), one in March and one in June 2009. Belgian specimens were live-trapped,
Results
We found two species of sucking lice in the Dadizele population of Pallas's squirrels (Table 1): 86 specimens (48 ♀, 32 ♂ and 6 nymphs) of Hoplopleura erismata (Johnson, 1959) on 14 hosts, and 45 specimens (18 ♀, 11 ♂ and 16 nymphs) of Enderleinellus kumadai (Kaneko, 1954) on 10 hosts. More male squirrels were infested by H. erismata (PFisher = 0.01) than females, without differences in lice burden between sexes (PMood = 0.30). Also, males harboured more E. kumadai (PMood = 0.05) than females,
Discussion
Pallas's squirrels introduced into Japan carried at least 6 macroparasite species (Kaneko, 1954, Shinozaki et al., 2004, Asakawa, 2005, Sato et al., 2007): a hard tick, Haemaphysalis flava; two sucking lice, E. kumadai and Neohaematopinus callosciuri; a flea, Ceratophyllus (Monopsyllus) anisus; and three nematodes, Brevistriata callosciuri, Strongyloides callosciureus and Gongylonema neoplasticum. According to Shinozaki et al. (2004), only H. flava was native to Japan. In fact, there were no
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the Office National des Forêts and the French Minister of Ecology (M.E.E.D.D.M.) for our funding. We would also like to thank C. Ducatillon (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Villa Thuret, Antibes) for field facilities, Pr. L.A. Durden for kindly checking our identification of H. erismata, and Pr. J.-C. Beaucournu for flea identification.
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2013, International Journal for ParasitologyCitation Excerpt :Males, however, suffered greater damage to the gall bladder when parasites were found. Sex differences in host responses to parasites are well documented (for example, Pickering and Christie, 1980; Fox et al., 2003; Klein, 2004; Dozières et al., 2010; McClelland and Smith, 2011) and in general, there is a trend toward higher prevalence and severity of parasitic infections in male hosts compared with female conspecifics (Goble and Konopka, 1973; Degu et al., 2002; Klein, 2004). Changing climate is likely to have an effect on specific host–parasite interactions (Harvell et al., 2002; Thomas et al., 2004; Rohr et al., 2011).