Composition and Distribution on a Host of Avian Lice of White Storks in North-Eastern Algeria

Abstract

The diversity and spatial distribution of ectoparasites of a large colony of white stork Ciconia ciconia at Dréan, in north-eastern Algeria, were investigated during two consecutive breeding seasons. The results indicated that nestlings were infested by the following four louse species: Colpocephalum zebra (Burmeister, 1838), Neophilopterus incompletus (Denny, 1842), Ardeicola ciconiae (Linnaeus, 1758), and Ciconiphilus quadripustulatus (Burmeister, 1838). Overall, the distribution of chewing lice exhibited a clustered distribution, with C. zebra being the most frequent species, with a prevalence of 39.6% and 41.0% in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Our results also suggested niche partitioning among the four louse species within the host’s body parts. A generalized additive model indicated that size, sex, and year influenced the abundance of ectoparasites; the abundance of chewing lice increased with the size of the host and was greater in females, as well as in the first year of study. Further studies are needed to explore the spatio-temporal variability in white storks’ lice infestations.