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Studies on the Parasitic Helminths of the North Central States. II University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of 1949 Studies on the Parasitic Helminths of the North Central States. II. Helminths of Voles (Microtus spp.) Preliminary Report Robert L. Rausch University of Washington, [email protected] Jack Tiner University of Wisconsin, Madison Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs Part of the Parasitology Commons Rausch, Robert L. and Tiner, Jack, "Studies on the Parasitic Helminths of the North Central States. II. Helminths of Voles (Microtus spp.) Preliminary Report" (1949). Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. 569. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs/569 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Rausch & Tiner in American Midland Naturalist (May 1949) v. 41, no. 3. Copyright 1949, University of Notre Dame. Used by permission. Studieson theParasitic Helminths of the North CentralStates. 11.Helminths of Voles (Microtusspp.) PreliminaryReport RobertRausch and JackD. Tiner* Departmentof VeterinaryScience, University of Wisconsin,Madison* The helminthsof NorthAmerican mouse-like rodents have received little study. Previouswork has beenbased on low numbersof animalsexamined, and therehas beenlittle reference to theecology involved. The purposeof thispaper is to presentdata resulting from the examination of over600 voles, withspecial reference to host-parasiterelationships. Hall (1916) reviewedthe nematodesparasitic in rodents,and previous recordsof helminthsfrom voles are containedin the papersof Harkema (1936) and Erickson(1938). In additionto these,a numberof newspecies has beendescribed. No efforthas beenmade here to listall helminthspre- viouslyrecorded from voles, and onlythose of interestin connectionwith the presentwork are mentioned. Rodentsof thegenus Microtus are of mucheconomic importance in con- nectionwith agriculture, and for thisreason have been givenconsiderable attention.The fluctuationsof vole populations have long been observed, and a considerableamount of efforthas beenspent in attemptsto explaintheir populationbehavior. The bionomicsof voleshas beeninvestigated both in NorthAmerica and in Eurasia. The workof Hamilton(1937, 1941) in the easternUnited States has beenespecially complete, as has thatof Eltonand his co-workersin Europe. Much workon the ecologyof rodentshas been donein Russia,some of whichhas beenreviewed by Kalabukhov (1935), and by Elton (1942). Unfortunately,the Russian work has not beengenerally available. Voles lendthemselves especially well to studiesconcerned with population fluctuations,since the rise and fallof theirnumbers seems to occurwithin a spanof threeor fouryears, in contrastto thatof certainother species (snow- shoehare, ruffed grouse, and others),which have a cycleof about10 years. In spiteof theiravailability in considerablenumbers, wide geographical distribution,and interestingpopulation behavior, very little has been done in the way of host-parasitestudies with voles. The workof Kirschenblatt (1938), concerningMicrotus socialis satunini Ogn., M. socialisschidlovskyi Arg., and M. arvalistranscaucasicus St., as well as otherrodents in the * Now at Departmentof Zoology and Physiology,University of Illinois,Urbana, Illinois. ** Sectionon Parasitology.This worksupported in part by the ResearchCommittee of the GraduateSchool fromfunds supplied by the WisconsinAlumni Research Foun- dation. 665 Rausch & Tiner in American Midland Naturalist (May 1949) v. 41, no. 3. Copyright 1949, University of Notre Dame. Used by permission. 666 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 41 (3) Transcaucasusregion, is of especialinterest. We wereable to obtainthis paperonly in late 1947,through the kindnessof Dr. CharlesElton, as it doesnot appear to be availablein NorthAmerica. An efforthas beenmade to includethe points in Kirschenblatt'swork which are of interestin connec- tionwith the present paper. Accordingto Dr. H. A. Baylis(personal com- munication),voles in the BritishIsles havenot beenfound parasitized by helminthsto a degreeadequate to allowa profitablestudy of thistype. Elton and his associates(1931) carriedout such a studywith the woodmouse, Apodemussylvaticus L., a formin some wayscomparable to the North AmericanPeromyscus. METHODS AND SOURCES OF MATERIAL The procedurefor collecting helminths was the sameas thatused in a previousstudy (Rausch and Tiner,1948). Afterthe voleswere weighed, theviscera were removed, and each organwas openedseparately in a clean dish of water. The contentsof each viscuswere examined under the low powerof the dissectingmicroscope, after any macroscopic forms present had beenremoved. It shouldbe notedhere that all theanimals examined were in a freshcondition; in the opinionof the writers,carcasses preserved in formalindo not give satisfactoryresults, although the use of preservatives maybe necessaryunder some circumstances. After their isolation, the hel- minthswere fixed in formalin-aceticacid-alcohol solution, and handledin the usualmanner. Voles wereordinarily captured by meansof snapmouse traps, set directly in therunways. Baited traps were rarely used. The collectingwas doneentirely by thesenior author from 1942 to 1945. From1945 to 1948,assistance was givenby thejunior author, and by other personsas notedin the acknowledgment.Some of the latter,particularly Messrs.L. H. and C. F. Troesch,have lent their assistance on occasionsince the inceptionof thisstudy. The Wisconsincollecting, in connectionwith thisstudy, was done by the senior author. The presentstudy is concernedmainly with a generalsurvey of the helminthsparasitic in voles,and withmore intensive work carried out locally in twoareas. For the surveywork, voles wereobtained from wherever possible, and specimenswere secured from the states of Ohio, Indiana,Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.The numberof animalsfrom Indiana and Illinois,however, wasrelatively small. A fewvoles were examined from Manitoba, in addition to thosefrom the North Central States region. Whilethe Manitoba speci- mensdo notcome under the scope of thisstudy, helminth records from them are includedin orderto giveall possibleinformation, on distribution. A. totalof 648 voleshas beenexamined. Of these,570 wereMicrotus p. pennsylvanicusOrd; 46 wereM. ochrogasterWagner; and 32 wereM. penn- sylvanicusdrummondii (Audubon and Bachman). The localitiesin theNorth Central States region from which voles have Rausch & Tiner in American Midland Naturalist (May 1949) v. 41, no. 3. Copyright 1949, University of Notre Dame. Used by permission. 1949 RAUSCH ET AL.: HELMINTHS OF VOLES 667 beenobtained are shown in Figure1, accordingto countyin whichthey were found. Thesecounties, as numberedon themap, are as follows: WISCONSIN 9. Hancock 17. Ingham 1. Vilas 10. Mason 18. Washtenaw 2. Fond du Lac 11. Piatt OHIO 3. Sheboygan 12. Champaign 19. Preble 4. Dodge 13. Vermilion 20. Franklin 5. Dane 14. Saline 21. Union 6. Waukesha INDIANA 22. Marion 7. Milwaukee 15. Tippecanoe 23. Morrow ILLINOIS MICHIGAN 24. Lorain 8. Cook 16. Cheboygan 25. Geauga Of thetwo local intensive studies, one wascarried out in InghamCounty, in southernMichigan (Figure 1, county17). A fairlyuniform field of about23 acres,adjoining, on thewest side, an extensivewoodlot, was used. 4 4~~~~~~~~2 5 ~ 219 2 Fig. 1.-Map of the NorthCentral States region,showing counties from which voles weie collected. Rausch & Tiner in American Midland Naturalist (May 1949) v. 41, no. 3. Copyright 1949, University of Notre Dame. Used by permission. 668 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 41 (3) An openwoodlot about 50 yardswide ran across the south side of thefield, whilethe othertwo sides bordered cultivated fields. The vegetationof the area consistedof blue grass,Poa sp., withseveral species of annualsinter- spersed. Hawthornebushes, Crataegus sp., weredistributed throughout, as weresmall areas of pricklyash, Zanthoxylum americanus L., and Vibernum sp. Certainmoist areas supported heavy growths of Carexsp., whichalso appearedto be good vole habitat,especially during the winter.As faras could be determined,the vole populationwas uniformover the area when thestudy was begun. The fieldwas grazedby cattleduring the late spring and summer. The largerwoodlot, adjoining the west side of thefield, contained about 69 acres,and was of beech-hardmaple type. Severalareas within it were quitelow, and supportedheavy growths of Cephalanthusoccidentalis L. and Typhalatifolia L., amonga varietyof plants. Sincethis woodlot had been ungrazedfor a numberof years,and sinceconditions in generalwere favor- able, severalspecies of mammalswere abundant. No mammalshad been removedby huntingor trappingfor a periodof yearspreceding this study. As willbe explainedfurther below, the helminthsof themammals resident in thiswoodlot were rather intensively studied, along with those of thevoles fromthe nearby field. The voleswere trapped from different parts of thearea in an effortto distributethe populationlosses due to trappingevenly over the wholearea, therebyminimizing the effort upon vole densities, and, in turn, upon the results obtained.It
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