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The louse populations of some cricetid rodents*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Edwin F. Cook  and
James R. Beer
Edwin F. Cook
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Economic Zoology, University of Minnesota, St Paul
James R. Beer
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Economic Zoology, University of Minnesota, St Paul
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Extract

In 1952 and 1953, 798 specimens of Peromyscus maniculatus, Microtus pennsylvanicus and Clethrionomys gapperi were examined for total louse populations. Two species of sucking lice, Hoplopleura acanthopus and H. hesperomydis, were found on these species. H. acanthopus was found almost exclusively on Microtus pennsylvanicus and Clethrionomys gapperi, and Hoplopleura hesperomydis was found almost exclusively on Peromyscus maniculatus.

Contamination appears to account for the apparently abnormal associations. The rates of infestation varied from host to host and from year to year. In general the higher infestations were found on host populations which were stable or declining, and the lower rates were on hosts which were increasing in density. Microtus pennsylvanicus had the highest infestation rate followed by Peromyscus maniculatus, with Clethrionomys gapperi nearly free of lice.

The age of the host apparently had little to do with rate of infestation or population size.

The louse populations were made up of about equal numbers of adults and nymphs. The adult sex ratio was, in each sample, unbalanced in favour of the females.

The average population size varied between sexes of host and years. The male hosts had a higher average population than the female.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 45 , Issue 3-4 , November 1955 , pp. 409 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1955

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References

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