Honors Theses
Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Richard Buchholz
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Within a population, susceptibility to parasitism may vary. Individuals possessing certain intrinsic or extrinsic traits are often more likely to be parasitized than individuals within that population that do not possess those certain traits. As a result, parasites can have profound effects of the population dynamics of theirs hosts. Much research has been done on the host-parasite interaction of the eastern grey squirrel {Sciurus caroUnensis) and the tree squirrel hot fly {Cuterebra emasculator). However, relatively little research has been done on host susceptibility to this parasite. Knowing that bot flies can lower reproductive success, reduce fitness, and cause death of their hosts, it is important to determine whether or not a certain characteristic may increase a squirrel’s likelihood of becoming infested by bot flies. Along with number of bot flies larvae and bot fly scars present on the host, physical characteristics were measured from 35 squirrels including sex, second to fourth digit ratio, testes mass, body surface area, and spleen mass. There was a statistically significant relationship between the number of bots present and the sex of the host (unpaired t-test, t = -2.528, DF = 33, P = 0.0164). Males were more heavily parasitized than females. All other results were not statistically significant. Based on these findings, bot fly parasitism may affect the dynamics of squirrel populations by decreasing the fitness and reproductive success of males. Future research should focus on determining what trait makes individual males more susceptible than other males.
Recommended Citation
DeBardeleben, Miles Moore, "An Investigation of Host Variation In the Host-Parasite Interaction of Sciurus carolinensis and Cuterebra emasculator" (2012). Honors Theses. 2198.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2198
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