This dissertation has been 62—3609 microfilmed exactly as received WELKER, George William, 1923- HELMINTH PARASITES OF THE COMMON GRACKLE QUISCALUS QUISCULA VERSICOLOR VIEILLOT IN INDIANA. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1962 Zoology University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan HELMINTH PARASITES OP THE COMMON GRACKLE QUISCALU5 QUISCULA VERSICOLOR VIEILLOT IN INDIANA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By George William Welker, B. S., M. A. u _ u u u The Ohio State University 1962 Approved by: 1'XJijdJi ~7 Adviser urtameenhtt of Zoology and Entomology Dedicated as a tribute of appreciation and admiration to ELLEN ANN, my wife, for her help and for the sacrifices which she made during the four years covered by this study. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation for all the help and cooperation which he has received from many people during the course of this study: Dr. Joseph Jones, Jr. of St. Augustine's College, Raleigh, North Carolina; Dr. Donal Myer, Southern Illinois university; Dr. E. J. Robinson, Jr., Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; Dr. Martin J. Ulmer, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; and Dr. A. Carter Broad and Dr. Carl Reese of the reading committee who helped in checking the paper for errors. Special acknowledgment goes to two persons whose help and influence are most deeply appreciated. To Professor Robert H. Cooper, Head of the Department of Science at Ball State Teachers College, whose sincere and continuous interest, encouragement and help made possible the completion of the work; and to Professor Joseph N. Miller, Department of Zoology, the Ohio State University, who served as my adviser. Without his help, kindness and cooperation this study could not have been done. iii CONTENTS Introduction ............................................... 1 Historical Review ......................................... k Materials and Methods . ................................ 6 Classification and Description of Parasites ................. 10 Acanthocephala ............................................. 10 Platyhelminthes ........................................... 13 Cestoda......................................... 13 Trematoda............................................. 17 Aschelminthes............................................ 36 N e m a t o d a ..................................... 36 Observations and Results ................................... ^7 Interpretation of Data ................................ 56 General Discussion ......................................... 69 S u m m a r y ..................................................... 7^ Appendix............. 76 Bibliography............................................... 9V Autobiography............................................... 104 iv TABLES Table Page 1. Published records of helminth parasites from the Common Grackle....................... .... ........... ^9 2. Helminth parasites obtained from the Common Grackle in Indiana............................................. 50 3« Percentage of infection found in the Common Grackle with different species of helminth parasites in relation to geographical regions of Indiana ................. 51 Percentage of infection of male and female grackles with different classes and species of helminths .......... 52 5. Totals of Common Grackles taken in the spring and autumn in the three regions of Indiana.................. 53 6 . A composite table of the number of Common Grackles infected with different species of helminths ............ 5^ 7 . A comparison of helminth parasites in four passerine b i r d s ................................................ 55 v APPENDIX ILLUSTRATIONS Plates I......................... Map of Indiana II...................... Mediorhynchus grandis III....... '............... Paricterotaenia parina Orthoskrjabinia quiscali IV........................ Bracbylecithum americanum Conspicuum icteridorum V ........................ Conspicuum macrorchis Echinostoma revolutum VI........................ Crepidostomum cooperi Capillaria quiscali VII........................ Splendidofilaria quiscali Dispharynx spiralis INTRODUCTION This is a study of helminth parasites of the Common Grackle, Quiscalus quiscula versicolor Vieillot. It was made to determine what species of helminths infected this bird; the geographical distribution of the parasites; their relative frequencies in the spring and autumn; and their distribution in relation to the sex of the host in the state of Indiana. The grackle is a common bird in' Indiana. In the 5th edition of the A. 0. U. Check-List of North American Birds (1957) three sub-species of grackles were grouped under the name Common Grackle. These were the Bronzed Grackle, the Purple Grackle, and the Florida Purple Grackle. The host used in this study is the one previously known as the Bronzed Grackle. This bird is considered highly undesirable because it has become so numerous in the past few years. No previous study has been made of the helminth parasites of it, although individual reports of helminths of this bird are found in the literature. The Common Grackle is omnivorous; however, it feeds primarily upon seeds, which include the cereal grains of the farmers of the state. These birds do much damage to fields of grain. The author has observed fields of corn in which flocks of these birds had destroyed practically the entire crop, often feeding on c o m while it was still green. Records indicate that c o m makes up the greatest percentage, of the diet of this bird. During the autumn of both i960 and 1961 the author observed flocks of grackles flying to their night roosts in numbers estimated to be in the thousands. Large, tall trees are favored as roosts. Residents near 2 such roosts are plagued hy the incessant chatter and odor and filth of the droppings of the birds. Because of the large numbers of these birds even in urban areas, they have come to be abhorred by city dwellers as well as the rural farmer. Although the Common Grackle is classified as a song bird, and is therefore protected, the residents of some areas have illegally shot or otherwise destroyed many of them. However, all efforts to route them from their chosen sites have met with little or no success. Certain cities in Indiana have "open season" on these birds. At predetermined times, residents, under supervision of the police department, have been allowed to shoot them. Since it is a migratory bird, and therefore protected by law, it was necessary for the author to obtain scientific collecting permits from both the state of Indiana and the Federal Bureau of Wildlife Conservation. Annual reports were made to the Regional Director of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. In order to determine whether the parasites or their relative frequencies varied with the season, spring and autumn were selected as the times in which collections were made. This bird generally arrives in early spring (March) and leaves Indiana with the onset of cold weather, migrating into the southern states and wintering from South Carolina to Texas. Parasites taken from birds in the early spring likely represent infections obtained during the winter when the host was out of the state. On the other hand parasites found in the autumn, but not present in the spring, evidently had to be obtained locally by the birds. 3 The author believed that a study of the geography of Indiana Justi­ fied a three way division of the state into north, central, and south parts (Fig. 1). In this report, the north area is referred to as the lakes region, being characterized by many lakes of various sizes. The j central region of the state, primarily an agricultural area, has few natural lakes. The southern part of Indiana is an unglaciated area and extremely hilly. Because of the nature of the terrain, this part of the state is used mostly for forestry and grazing. While some crop farming is done in the southern part, this does not occur nearly so extensively as in central Indiana. Since it was proposed to determine whether the parasites or their relative frequencies varied with the sex of the host, it was intended that approximately equal numbers of each sex of bird would be examined, thus allowing for a check on the distribution of parasites according to season, geographical distribution, and sex. HISTORICAL REVIEW Many studies have been conducted on avian parasites; however, only three species of passerine birds have had surveys made of their helminth parasites. These included the Blue-jay, crow, and starling. A review of the literature has revealed only scant information con­ cerning the parasites of grackles, especially those of this species. In fact, no study of helminth parasites has been undertaken heretofore for the Common Grackle, although from time to time a total of seven species of worms has been reported in the literature. These come from isolated reports of parasites obtained by workers checking this host for a particular species of parasite. Van Cleave (1918), in a study of the acanthocephala of North American birds, reported Mediorhynchus grand!s as a new species from the Common Grackle in Kansas, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky. Denton and Boyd (1951) reported a new species of trematode, Conspicuum icteridorum from this host in Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, and Michigan. Byrd (1950) reported Tanaisia bragai Santos, 193^ from the Common Grackle in Georgia. This parasite infects the ureters