Parasitism of Enallagma civile Hagen in Selys, 1853 (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) by Arrenurus water mites

Abstract

We compared the prevalence and intensity of Arrenurus sensu stricto water mite parasites on Enallagma civile Hagen in Selys, 1853 (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) from 10 freshwater wetlands (playas) in two different land-cover contexts in western Texas from 2006-2007. Vulnerability to parasitism may be a consequence of disturbance, so we predicted that the more natural form of regional land cover (grasslands) surrounding playas should be associated with a lower water mite load than more disturbed land cover (tilled croplands). Additionally, we examined Arrenurus occurrence and intensity of infection by host sex. Overall prevalence was 38.46% of 130 damselflies sampled having mites; this varied by land-cover type but with opposite trends between years. Overall average parasite load was ~11 water mites per infected host (range: 1-40 mites); intensity was significantly higher in hosts from cropland playas in 2006, but there was no difference by surrounding land cover in 2007. Although there were consistent trends in both years of more males being parasitized than females, the highly uneven distribution of parasites on hosts and differences in average mite load between years generated variability that obscured any statistically significant patterns. Thus, land-cover context surrounding playas, but not host sex, had an impact on parasite load in one of the two years of our study. Future work is needed to identify the mechanisms by which land cover may affect water mite-odonate host-parasite relationships as well as the role of the odonate assemblage as a whole in dispersal of parasites in a temporally dynamic wetland network.