Journal article
The effect of ectoparasites on the grooming behaviour of gould's wattled bat (Chalinolobus Gouldii): An experimental study
LN Godinho, JK Cripps, G Coulson, LF Lumsden
Acta Chiropterologica | Published : 2013
Abstract
Grooming is an important behaviour for the control of ectoparasites in mammals but it is also energetically costly. Therefore, the time an animal allocates to grooming may be used to evaluate the potential cost of an ectoparasite to its host. Most mammals are host to more than one ectoparasite species, which may impose different costs. We experimentally evaluated the relative cost of three ectoparasite species by observing the grooming response of their host, Gould's wattled bat (Chalinolobus gouldii), to the manipulation of parasite load. The parasite that spent its entire lifecycle on the host, the mite Spinturnix novaehollandiae, triggered the greatest increase in grooming. A grooming res..
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Awarded by University of Melbourne, Faculty of Veterinary Science Animal Ethics Committee
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary staff for their generous support, Alexia King, Lauren Raymond and Elizabeth Blackwood for their assistance in data collection, and Emily Hynes for valuable comments during the drafting process. We also thank Ian Beveridge, who provided comments on manuscript and advice on parasite biology. This study was conducted under the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Wildlife Permit 10003144, and The University of Melbourne, Faculty of Veterinary Science Animal Ethics Committee, project 0701162.