The prevalence, abundance, and molecular characterization ofLipoptenadeer keds from cervids

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence and abundance of deer keds on various cervids in Lithuania, to molecularly characterize the deer ked species based on mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA genes, and to compare them with Lipoptena species found in other countries. A total of 11,939 deer keds (Lipoptena cervi and Lipoptena fortisetosa) was collected from the fur of 30 cervids in Lithuania between 2015 and 2019. The values of infestation with deer keds differed among the species of the hosts. Moose and red deer were more frequently infested with L. cervi than with L. fortisetosa, while L. fortisetosa was found more often on roe deer. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI and 16S rRNA genes of five Lipoptena species revealed 110 and 55 variable nucleotide positions, respectively. Among Lithuanian samples, three COI haplotypes of L. cervi and three haplotypes of L. fortisetosa were detected, while there was no variation observed in the 16S rRNA sequences analyzed with one haplotype of L. cervi and one haplotype of L. fortisetosa. This is the first study on L. cervi and L. fortisetosa parasitizing cervids and the first molecular characterization of these deer ked species in Lithuania.

Distribution of Deer Keds (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) in Free-Living Cervids of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, Central Italy, and Establishment of the Allochthonous Ectoparasite Lipoptena fortisetosa

“…Although L. cervi seems to have a greater worldwide distribution than that of L. fortisetosa [47], our survey proves that locally allochthonous species may be were largely more abundant than autochthonous species, demonstrating that the introduced L. fortisetosa is numerous in the study area and strongly competes with native hippoboscids which not only live in the same geographic territories but also share the same host species. Our study confirms the coexistence of L. cervi and L. fortisetosa in the same area, as evidenced in other European regions, such as northeastern Poland and Lithuania [19,48]. Moreover, L. fortisetosa was found to share the same host with other dipteran ectoparasite species in Japan, where it…”

“…Although many cervid species have been reported as suitable definitive hosts for L. cervi, red deer and moose seem to be the favored species in Europe, while the Japanese deer, C. nippon, is considered the main and original host for L. fortisetosa [15]. On red deer, L. cervi can reach a very high frequency of infestation, ranging between 78% and 100% [19,50], while it is less abundant on fallow deer [10]. A heavy infestation of L. cervi in four hunted roe deer was recorded in Romania, with the average number of flies exceeding 2500 parasites per host [51].…”

“…Both of these species show a preference for parasitizing Cervidae: L. cervi has been recorded on Cervus elaphus, Dama dama, Alces alces, Capreolus capreolus, and Moschus moschiferus, while L. fortisetosa, although it was considered quite restricted to its original host, Cervus nippon, has also been collected from Cervus elaphus, Capreolus pygargus and Capreolus capreolus [15,17,18]. Lipoptena cervi and L. fortisetosa can concurrently be found on the same deer [6,19], together with ticks. Hippoboscids can heavily infest hosts, compromising them physically and behaviorally [20,21].…”

Two New Haplotypes of Bartonella sp. Isolated from Lipoptena fortisetosa (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) in SE Poland

“…Two species, i.e., Lipoptena cervi (Linnaeus, 1758) and Lipoptena fortisetosa Maa, 1965, inhabit the central and northern parts of the continent. In recent years, progressive expansion of L. cervi [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ] and L. fortisetosa [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ] has been observed. As shown by literature data, the spread of L. fortisetosa species in Europe was most likely caused by its natural dispersal outside Asia, overlapping the ranges of Siberian and European roe deer during periodic climate changes, or by introduction with alien mammal species, e.g., sika deer ( Cervus nippon Temminck, 1838) [ 16 , 17 ].…”

“…Depending on the geographical region as well as climate and ecological conditions, the level of prevalence and severity of invasion of specific ectoparasites varies significantly, e.g., in the case of L. cervi , it mainly depends on the host species [ 4 , 24 ] and exhibits seasonal differences: the highest prevalence is most often noted in autumn and winter [ 25 ]. L. cervi parasitize domestic and wild animals, primarily representatives of Cervidae-red deer, roe deer, and moose ( Alces alces Linnaeus, 1758) [ 15 , 26 ], own observations. The L. fortisetosa host species have not been clearly defined, but they are probably the same animals as the hosts of L. cervi [ 13 , 16 ].…”