Abstract
This paper is the latest study on the distribution of two sympatric species of water boatmen in saline lakes in British Columbia. It is a further examination of a study by Smith, who found that parasitic water mites have higher prevalence and abundance on Cenocorixa expleta than on C. bifida. He hypothesized that this is one of the main factors responsible for the small populations of C. expleta in lakes below 13 000 µS · cm-1. We performed laboratory experiments with the mite Eylais euryhalina on two different wing morphs of the two host species. Over 8 days, we found higher prevalence and abundance of mites on the predominant, flight-incapable morph of C. expleta than on the predominant, flight-capable morph of C. bifida. Eylais euryhalina attached over most of the abdominal terga of C. expleta, but generally attached only to the permanently non-sclerotized thoracico-abdominal membrane of C. bifida. Infecting both wing morphs of both species showed that locations of mite attachment differed according to the wing morph and the associated differences in sclerotization, whereas the effect of species was equivocal. We hypothesize that a factor in C. expleta's exclusion is the greater potential mite-attachment area of its predominant, unsclerotized morph.
Publisher
Canadian Science Publishing
Subject
Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
6 articles.
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