Feeding and reproductive behaviour of pigeon slender louse, Columbicola columbae (Phthiraptera, Insecta, Ischnocera)

Abstract

Columbicola columbae, the pigeon slender louse mostly feeds upon the barbules of feathers but in addition to this it also feeds upon skin scurf, epidermal scales, sheaths of growing feathers, pellicle of skin etc. C. columbae is exclusively keratin feeder and does not take host blood. Any sex or stage related difference in feeding habit has not been recorded. It neither harbours any triturating agent in the crop nor is involved in cannibalism or predation. C. columbae exhibits sub-feminal mating behaviour (i.e., the male is under the female). Complete copulation lasts about 10 hours. The louse prefers the wing and tail feathers for oviposition. The eggs are generally laid on the ventral surface of the first row of undercoverts of wing feathers. Every event that takes place prior to eclosion of nymph, the time required for detachment of operculum and the freeing of nymph has been noted during hatching.

The assembled and annotated genome of the pigeon louseColumbicola columbae, a model ectoparasite

“…We speculate that this dramatic depletion of taste receptor genes is due to the homogeneous diet of ectoparasitic lice. The diet of C. columbae , for instance, consists entirely of pigeon feathers and flakes of dead skin ( Ash 2008 ; Nelson and Murray 1971 ; Singh et al 2010 ).…”

Intrinsic Rate of Natural Increase of Five Species of Ischnoceran Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from India

“…Reasons responsible for skewed sex ratio have been discussed by Gupta et al (2007). The incubation period of eggs, duration of three nymphal stages and the adult lifespan of U. upupae does not show any departure from the other ischnoceran species studied, so far (Wilson 1934(Wilson , 1939Arora and Chopra, 1959;Agarwal 1967;Williams 1970;Saxena et al 1991;Singh et al 2001;Gupta et al 2007;Saxena et al 2007, 09). The rate of egg production of different species recorded by the aforesaid workers varied from 0.4 to 2.0 eggs/female/day.…”

“…Studies on the in vitro bionomics of avian lice have been performed by Wilson (1934, 39), Arora & Chopra (1959), Agarwal (1967), Williams (1970), Saxena et al 1995, andSingh et al 2001. In case of certain avian Ischnocera the data obtained from in vitro experimentation have been utilized to construct life tables to determine the intrinsic rate of natural increase (Beg et al 2005;Saxena et al 2007;Saxena et al 2009).…”

In vitro biology of pigeon louse Colpocephalum turbinatum (Amblycera: Phthiraptera)

“…The longevity of adults varies from 8.2 (Philopterus lahorensis; Beg et al 2005) to 34.0 days ( Goniodes colchici; Williams, 1970). Likewise, daily egg rate of avian Ischnocera varies from 0.4 (Columbicola columbae; Singh et al 2001) to 2.0 per day (Lipeurus lawrensis tropicalis; Saxena et al 1991). In case of mammalian Ischnocera, the incubation period of eggs varies from 6.9 (Bovicola caprae; Kumar et al 1993) to 10.1 days (Bovicola crassipes; Hopkins and Chamberlain, 1969).…”