Publication Type |
pre-print |
School or College |
College of Science |
Department |
Biology |
Creator |
Clayton, Dale H. |
Other Author |
Knutie, Sarah A.; McNew, Sabrina M.; Bartlow, Andrew W.; Vargas, Daniela A. |
Title |
Darwins finches combat introduced nest parasites with fumigated cotton |
Date |
2014-01-01 |
Description |
Introduced parasites are a threat to biodiversity when naïve hosts lack effective defenses against such parasites [1]. Several parasites have recently colonized the Galápagos Islands, threatening native bird populations [2]. For example, the introduced parasitic nest fly Philornis downsi (Diptera: Muscidae) has been implicated in the decline of endangered species of Darwin's finches, such as the mangrove finch (Camarhynchus heliobates) [3]. Here, we show that Darwin's finches can be encouraged to "self-fumigate" nests with cotton fibers that have been treated with permethrin. Nests with permethrin-treated cotton had significantly fewer P. downsi than control nests, and nests containing at least one gram of cotton were virtually parasite-free. Nests directly fumigated with permethrin had fewer parasites and fledged more offspring than nests treated with water. |
Type |
Text |
Publisher |
Elsevier |
Volume |
24 |
Issue |
9 |
First Page |
R355 |
Last Page |
R356 |
Language |
eng |
Bibliographic Citation |
Knutie, S. A., McNew, S. M., Bartlow, A. W., Vargas, D. A., & Clayton, D. H. (2014). Darwins finches combat introduced nest parasites with fumigated cotton. Current Biology, 24(9), R355-6. |
Rights Management |
(c) Elsevier ; Authors manuscript from Knutie, S. A., McNew, S. M., Bartlow, A. W., Vargas, D. A., & Clayton, D. H. (2014). Darwins finches combat introduced nest parasites with fumigated cotton. Current Biology, 24(9), R355-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.058 |
Format Medium |
application/pdf |
Format Extent |
1,047,039 bytes |
Identifier |
uspace,18709 |
ARK |
ark:/87278/s68h1vtn |
Setname |
ir_uspace |
ID |
712591 |
Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s68h1vtn |