The Experts below are selected from a list of 390 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Mati Kose - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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sexual selection feather breakage and parasites the importance of white spots in the tail of the barn swallow hirundo rustica
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1999Co-Authors: Mati KoseAbstract:The long outermost tail feathers of barn swallows Hirundo rustica have white spots that are larger in males than in females and in adults than in juveniles. Spot size increases with age among adults and is positively correlated with tail length. We tested the functional significance of these white spots by randomly assigning males to either of three groups during spring: (1) subjected to a considerable reduction in the size of all spots using a black permanent pen; (2) subjected to a small reduction in the size of all spots; or (3) a control group with no reduction. Experimental treatment significantly affected the total number of offspring produced per season: breeding tended to be delayed and second broods were less frequent after a considerable reduction in the size of the males' tail feather spots. White parts of feathers lacking melanin were more often found to be the site of feather breakage than the melanised parts of similar width. Furthermore, white tail spots were the preferred feeding site of feather-eating Mallophaga and, since long-tailed males have fewer Mallophaga than short-tailed males, long-tailed males may pay a lower cost for their large white tail spots than short-tailed males. Hence, the cost of increased risk of feather breakage at white tail spots and the non-random distribution of feather lice among individuals will render tail spots a reliable signal of phenotypic quality.
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sexual selection feather breakage and parasites the importance of white spots in the tail of the barn swallow hirundo rustica
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1999Co-Authors: Mati KoseAbstract:The long outermost tail feathers of barn swallows Hirundo rustica have white spots that are larger in males than in females and in adults than in juveniles. Spot size increases with age among adults and is positively correlated with tail length. We tested the functional significance of these white spots by randomly assigning males to either of three groups during spring: (1) subjected to a considerable reduction in the size of all spots using a black permanent pen; (2) subjected to a small reduction in the size of all spots; or (3) a control group with no reduction. Experimental treatment significantly affected the total number of offspring produced per season: breeding tended to be delayed and second broods were less frequent after a considerable reduction in the size of the males' tail feather spots. White parts of feathers lacking melanin were more often found to be the site of feather breakage than the melanised parts of similar width. Furthermore, white tail spots were the preferred feeding site of feather-eating Mallophaga and, since long-tailed males have fewer Mallophaga than short-tailed males, long-tailed males may pay a lower cost for their large white tail spots than short-tailed males. Hence, the cost of increased risk of feather breakage at white tail spots and the non-random distribution of feather lice among individuals will render tail spots a reliable signal of phenotypic quality.
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Sexual selection for white tail spots in the barn swallow in relation to habitat choice by feather lice.
Animal behaviour, 1999Co-Authors: Mati Kose, Raivo Mänd, Anders Pape MøllerAbstract:Many bird species have white spots in their tails or wing feathers, and such characters have been hypothesized to be either reliable signals (handicaps) or amplifiers that facilitate the message of a signal. In barn swallows, Hirundo rustica, the size of the white spots in the tail feathers is sexually dimorphic and positively correlated with feather length. We tested whether such spots act as handicaps or amplifiers. These white spots affect sexual selection in barn swallows, as shown by an experiment in which we randomly subjected males to (1) a considerable reduction of the size of all the spots by the use of a black permanent marker pen, (2) a small reduction of the size of the spots, or (3) no reduction. There was a positive association between spot size and the number of offspring produced per season. The white tail spots were preferred by feather-eating Mallophaga as a feeding site: holes made by Mallophaga were more abundant in the white spots than expected by chance. A habitat choice experiment with Mallophaga on barn swallow tail feathers revealed that they preferred white spots over black parts of the tail feathers. We therefore expected long-tailed male barn swallows to have more Mallophaga than short-tailed males. However, the opposite relationship was observed, indicating that long-tailed males may reliably signal their quality by the presence of large white tail spots without parasite damage. Thus white tail spots in barn swallows appear to be a reliable signal of phenotypic quality.
Heinz Mehlhorn - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Biting and bloodsucking lice of dogs-treatment by means of a neem seed extract (MiteStop®, Wash Away Dog)
Parasitology Research, 2012Co-Authors: Heinz Mehlhorn, Volker Walldorf, Fathy Abdel-ghaffar, Khaled A. S. Al-rasheid, Saleh Al-quraishy, Julia MehlhornAbstract:Dogs infested with lice belonging either to the group of Mallophaga (hairlings, i.e., Trichodectes canis) or Anoplura (bloodsucking lice, e.g., Linognathus setosus) were washed with the neem seed preparations MiteStop® or Wash Away Dog. It was found that a single treatment with one of these products killed both motile stages and those developing inside eggs (nits) being glued at the hair. In both cases the product had been left for 20 min onto the hair before it was washed away just with normal tap water.
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The efficacy of neem seed extracts (Tre-san®, MiteStop®) on a broad spectrum of pests and parasites
Parasitology Research, 2010Co-Authors: Günter Schmahl, Fathy Abdel-ghaffar, Khaled A. S. Al-rasheid, Sven Klimpel, Heinz MehlhornAbstract:The paper summarizes the acaricidal and insecticidal effects of a patented neem seed extract when diluted 1:10 with shampoo or 1:20, 1:30, 1:33, 1:40, respectively, 1:66 with tap water. It was shown that a broad range of pests and parasites, such as house dust mites, poultry mites, harvest mites, Ixodes and Rhipicephalus ticks, cat fleas (adults, larvae), bed bugs (all stages), head lice and Mallophaga, cockroaches (genera Blatta , Blattella , Gomphadorhina ), raptor bugs ( Triatoma ), and even food-attacking beetle ( Tenebrio molitor ) might be controlled with this extract, which is available as Tre-san® (against house dust mites) and MiteStop® (against mites, ticks, insects of any kind) to become water diluted or as Wash Away Louse® or Picksan LouseStop® being diluted in a shampoo. Tests on skin compatibility proved that there are no skin irritations during or after use. However, some target species are less sensible (beetles, Triatoma stages, fly maggots), while the specimens of the other species cited above were successfully killed even at low concentrations of the extract.
Anna Murrell - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Phylogeny of the lice (Insecta, Phthiraptera) inferred from small subunit rRNA
Zoologica Scripta, 2003Co-Authors: Michael F. Whiting, Kevin P Johnson, Anna MurrellAbstract:There has been much argument about the phylogenetic relationships of the four suborders of lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera). Lyal's study of the morphology of lice indicated that chewing/biting lice (Mallophaga) are paraphyletic with respect to sucking lice (Anoplura). To test this hypothesis we inferred the phylogeny of 33 species of lice from small subunit (SSU) rRNA sequences (18S rRNA). Liposcelis sp. from the Liposcelididae (Psocoptera) was used for outgroup reference. Phylogenetic relationships among the four suborders of lice inferred from these sequences were the same as those inferred from morphology. The Amblycera is apparently the sister-group to all other lice whereas the Rhynchophthirina is apparently sister to the Anoplura; these two suborders are sister to the Ischnocera, i.e. (Amblycera (Ischnocera (Anoplura, Rhynchophthirina))). Thus, the Mallophaga (Amblycera, Ischnocera, Rhynchophthirina) is apparently paraphyletic with respect to the Anoplura. Our analyses also provide evidence that: (i) each of the three suborders of lice that are well represented in our study (the Amblycera, Ischnocera, and Anoplura) are monophyletic; (ii) the Boopiidae is monophyletic; (iii) the genera Heterodoxus and Latumcephalum (Boopiidae) are more closely related to one another than either is to the genus Boopia (also Boopiidae); (iv) the Ricinidae and Laemobothridae may be sister-taxa; (v) the Philopteridae may be paraphyletic with respect to the Trichodectidae; (vi) the genera Pediculus and Pthirus are more closely related to each other than either is to the genus Pedicinus ; and (vii) in contrast to published data for mitochondrial genes, the rates of nucleotide substitution in the SSU rRNA of lice are not higher than those of other insects, nor do substitution rates in the suborders differ substantially from one another.
Fathy Abdel-ghaffar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Biting and bloodsucking lice of dogs-treatment by means of a neem seed extract (MiteStop®, Wash Away Dog)
Parasitology Research, 2012Co-Authors: Heinz Mehlhorn, Volker Walldorf, Fathy Abdel-ghaffar, Khaled A. S. Al-rasheid, Saleh Al-quraishy, Julia MehlhornAbstract:Dogs infested with lice belonging either to the group of Mallophaga (hairlings, i.e., Trichodectes canis) or Anoplura (bloodsucking lice, e.g., Linognathus setosus) were washed with the neem seed preparations MiteStop® or Wash Away Dog. It was found that a single treatment with one of these products killed both motile stages and those developing inside eggs (nits) being glued at the hair. In both cases the product had been left for 20 min onto the hair before it was washed away just with normal tap water.
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The efficacy of neem seed extracts (Tre-san®, MiteStop®) on a broad spectrum of pests and parasites
Parasitology Research, 2010Co-Authors: Günter Schmahl, Fathy Abdel-ghaffar, Khaled A. S. Al-rasheid, Sven Klimpel, Heinz MehlhornAbstract:The paper summarizes the acaricidal and insecticidal effects of a patented neem seed extract when diluted 1:10 with shampoo or 1:20, 1:30, 1:33, 1:40, respectively, 1:66 with tap water. It was shown that a broad range of pests and parasites, such as house dust mites, poultry mites, harvest mites, Ixodes and Rhipicephalus ticks, cat fleas (adults, larvae), bed bugs (all stages), head lice and Mallophaga, cockroaches (genera Blatta , Blattella , Gomphadorhina ), raptor bugs ( Triatoma ), and even food-attacking beetle ( Tenebrio molitor ) might be controlled with this extract, which is available as Tre-san® (against house dust mites) and MiteStop® (against mites, ticks, insects of any kind) to become water diluted or as Wash Away Louse® or Picksan LouseStop® being diluted in a shampoo. Tests on skin compatibility proved that there are no skin irritations during or after use. However, some target species are less sensible (beetles, Triatoma stages, fly maggots), while the specimens of the other species cited above were successfully killed even at low concentrations of the extract.
Khaled A. S. Al-rasheid - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Biting and bloodsucking lice of dogs-treatment by means of a neem seed extract (MiteStop®, Wash Away Dog)
Parasitology Research, 2012Co-Authors: Heinz Mehlhorn, Volker Walldorf, Fathy Abdel-ghaffar, Khaled A. S. Al-rasheid, Saleh Al-quraishy, Julia MehlhornAbstract:Dogs infested with lice belonging either to the group of Mallophaga (hairlings, i.e., Trichodectes canis) or Anoplura (bloodsucking lice, e.g., Linognathus setosus) were washed with the neem seed preparations MiteStop® or Wash Away Dog. It was found that a single treatment with one of these products killed both motile stages and those developing inside eggs (nits) being glued at the hair. In both cases the product had been left for 20 min onto the hair before it was washed away just with normal tap water.
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The efficacy of neem seed extracts (Tre-san®, MiteStop®) on a broad spectrum of pests and parasites
Parasitology Research, 2010Co-Authors: Günter Schmahl, Fathy Abdel-ghaffar, Khaled A. S. Al-rasheid, Sven Klimpel, Heinz MehlhornAbstract:The paper summarizes the acaricidal and insecticidal effects of a patented neem seed extract when diluted 1:10 with shampoo or 1:20, 1:30, 1:33, 1:40, respectively, 1:66 with tap water. It was shown that a broad range of pests and parasites, such as house dust mites, poultry mites, harvest mites, Ixodes and Rhipicephalus ticks, cat fleas (adults, larvae), bed bugs (all stages), head lice and Mallophaga, cockroaches (genera Blatta , Blattella , Gomphadorhina ), raptor bugs ( Triatoma ), and even food-attacking beetle ( Tenebrio molitor ) might be controlled with this extract, which is available as Tre-san® (against house dust mites) and MiteStop® (against mites, ticks, insects of any kind) to become water diluted or as Wash Away Louse® or Picksan LouseStop® being diluted in a shampoo. Tests on skin compatibility proved that there are no skin irritations during or after use. However, some target species are less sensible (beetles, Triatoma stages, fly maggots), while the specimens of the other species cited above were successfully killed even at low concentrations of the extract.