PATTERNS OF SEÀSONAL ACTIVITY AND HOST-PARASITE RELATIONSHTPS FOR FLEAS ASSOCIATED WÏTH RICHARDSONIS GROUND SQUIRRELS, SPERHOPHII]]S RICHARDSONII, IN SOUTHERN MANITOBA, CANADA A Thesis Subnitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies The University of Manitoba by Leslie Robbin Lindsay In Partial Fulfilrnent of Reguirernents for the Degree of Masters of Science Department of Entomology December l-989 National Library B¡bl¡othàlue na(ionate f,*g of Canada du Canada CanaCian T!:eses Service Service des thèses c¿nadiennes O((awa. Canada KIA ON4 The autfior has granted an irrevocable non- L'auteur a aooordé une licencæ irrér¡ocable et exdusive !þence alk¡wing the Natbnat ttbrary non exclusive permettant å ta gibl-othèque na- of Canada to reproduce. ban. distribute or sell timale du Canada de reproduire. prêter. dis- coçies of h¡s/her thesis by any means and in any ûibuer ou vendre des copies de sa thèse de form or format; makiog this thesis available to in- quelque manière et sous quelque terested persons. forme que ce soitpour mettre des exemplaires de cette these å la dispositicn des personnes intéressées- The author retains ownership of the copyright L'auteur conseÍve la propriété du droit d.auteur in his/her thesis. Neither the thesis nor substan- qui protège sa thêse. Ni la thèse ni des extraits tial extracts from it may be Crinted or otherwise s¡¡bstantiels de celleci ne doivent être ím¡imés reproduced without his/her permission. ou autrement reproduits sans son autorisatlcn- ISBN ø-31s-63374-3 ('( UArìeûeI PATTERNS OF SEASONAL ACTIVITY AND HOST.PARASITE RELATIONSHIPS FOR FLEAS ASSOCIATED WITH RICHARDSON'S GR0UND SQUIRRELS, SPERMOPHILUS RICHARDSONII, IIJ SOUTI1ERN MANITOBA, CANADA BY LESLIE ROBBIN LINDSAY A thesis subnrined to thc Faculty of Craduate Studies of the University of Manitoba in partial fulfìllment of the requirenrerrts of the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE @ ¡98e Permission has been granted ro rl:e LIBRARy OF THE UNIVER- S¡TY OF MANITOBA to lend or sell copies of ttris thesis. ro the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA ro ¡nicrotilnr rtris thesis a¡rd to lend or sell copies of the film, and UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publisir an absrracr of rhis thesis. The author reserves other publication righfs, and neither thc thesis nor extensive extracts frorn it may be pnnteC or other- wise reproduced without the author's writ,te¡r permission. rL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS f am indebted to Terry Galloway for providing continuous guidance throughout the course of this study. Terryrs invaluable support, expertise and enthusiasm kept this project and my sanity intact. I would also like to thank my committee members, Drs. R.A. Brust and L.C. Graham for their conments and advice on this manuscript. Mite specimens were kindly examined by Dr. J.o. Whitaker. I am grateful to Joyce and Alan McEIroy and Betty McPherdan for kindly providing unlirnited access to their property. I woul-d also like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Mike A. Sawchuk, Robbin D.R. Lindsay, Amber L. Lindsay and Paul- E.K. McElligott during the field collection of sguirrels and fleas. The numerous hours volunteered by these individuals contributed immensely to the success of this study. Financial assistance for this project was provided by an NSERC operating grant (T.D. Galloway) and a University of Manitoba Fellowship (L.R. Lindsay). Lastly, I would like to thank ny wife, Rhonda, for providing the support, understanding and encouragement I needed to accomplísh the goals that I set for rnyself . Thank You. ]-rl TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements lLIL List of Tables vi List of Figures viii Abstract xi CHAPTER PAGE I. TNTRODUCTION O]- II. REVIEW OF THE PERTINENT LITERATURE L4 RICHÀRDSONIS GROUND SQUTRREL 1,4 Description L4 Distribution L5 Life History 16 Behaviour 24 Parasites of Richardsonrs ground sguirrels 31 FLEAS OF THE RICHÀRDSONIS GROUND SQUIRREL 33 Description 33 Distribution 34 Related Research 36 Plague and the fleas of Richardsonrs ground squirrel 39 I. MÀTERIALS ÀND METHODS 4T Description of the study sites 41, Trapping regime 45 Handling of squirrels and ectoparasites 46 Gonotrophic age cateqories 49 IV. RESULTS 52 MÀMMA,L CAPTURES . 52 General 52 Darlingford 57 Perimeter 63 St. Norbert 63 FLEAS REMOVED FROM S. RICHARDSONII 66 Darlingford Neopsylla inopina 68 opisocrostis bruneri ..... .............. 72 Oropsylla rupestris 74 1\f Rhadinopsylla fraterna 76 Perimeter. 78 onisocrostis bruneri 78 St. Norbert 78 onisocrostis bruneri 7B FLEA INFESTATION PARÄMETERS 80 Darlingford :...: 82 Neopsvl-la inopj-na 82 onisocrostis bruneri 85 oropsylla rupestris 89 Rhadinopsvll-a fraterna 93 Perimeter 96 opisocrostis bruneri 96 St. Norbert 96 opisocrostis bruneri 96 l_00 LO2 1_0 3 103 106 1l_6 ]-22 r27 1,27 t_3 0 130 V. 1_34 L34 L39 t-3 9 L42 L47 L49 151 r52 158 t-59 L62 L64 r67 v vI. CoNCLUSIONS I72 LITERATURE CITED 477 Appendices . L90 Àppendix A . l-90 Dissection technigue L90 Preparation for dissection L90 Dissection procedure l-90 Appendix B L92 FLea Associates and Parasites . 1-92 Flea associates i.92 FIea parasites . L92 vL LIST OF ÎÀBLES TABLE PAGE l_. Trapping schedule, total number of trapping dates and total S. richardsonii captures at Darlingford, Perimeter and St. Norbert sites, L987-1989.... 47 2. Emergence and immergence schedules for adult S. richardsonii at the Darlingford, Perimeter and St. Norbert sites I L987-1,988. 53 3. Emergence and immergence schedules for juvenile S. richardsonii at the Darlingford, Perimeter and St. Norbert sites 56 4. Distributíon of individual S. richardsonii captures by age and sex of the host at the Darlingford, Perimeter and St. Norbert sites, 1987 -l_989 58 5. Distribution of S. richardsonii captures by age and sex of the host at the Darlingford, Perimeter and St. Norbert sites | 1,987-L989. 59 6. Summary of flea species, total number (N) and observed sex distribution of fleas removed from S. richardsonii at the Darlingford, Perimeter and St. Norbert sites, L987-I989. 67 7. Numbers of Neopsytla inopina, Or¡isocrostis bruneri, Oropsy1la rupestris, and Rhadinopsyll-a fraterna removed from the two ages and sexes S. richardsonii at the Darlingford site, 1-987-1-989.. 69 8. observed sex ratios (yI/F) and numbers (N) of Neopsylla inopina removed from S. richardsonii at Darlingford, Manitoba, l-987-1989... 7I 9. Observed sex ratios (l,I/F) and nurnbers (N) of opisocrostis bruneri removed from S. richardsonii at Darlingford, Manitoba, 1987-1989... 73 vii 10. Observed sex ratios $n/F) and numbers (N) of Oropsylla rupestris removed from S. richardsonii at Darlingford, Manitoba, l-987-L989... - 75 l-1. Observed sex ratios (VI/F) and numbers (N) of Rhadinopsvlla fraterna removed from S- richardsonii at Darlingford, Manitoba, t-987-1-989... - 77 L2. Observed sex ratios (I"f/F) and nunbers (N) of opisocrostis bruneri removed frorn S. richardsonii at the Perimeter site (L987) and St. Norbert site (l-988-1"989). 79 L3. Numbers of Opisocrostis bruneri removed from the two age classes and sexes of g. riehardsonii at the Perimeter and St. Norbert sites in l-987-1,989... 81 T4. Observed prevalence and mean intensity of Neopsvll-a inopina, opisocrostis bruneri, oropsylla rupestris and Rhadinopsyl]a fraterna adults on S. richardsonii at the Darlingford and St. Norbert sites, L989 86 l-5. Reinfestation rating for Neopsylta inopina, opisocrostis bruneri, oropsylla rupestris, and Rhadinopsvlla fraterna removed from sarne day recaotures of S. richardsonii at the Perimeter (N:106) and Darlingford (N:11-0) sites, 1-987 l-01- 1-6. Month of maximum abundance of teneral Neopsvlla inopina, opisocrostis bruneri, oropsylla rupestris and Rhadinopsylla fraterna adults on S. richardsonii at the Dartingford, Perimeter and St. Norbert sites | 1987-L989. 1-09 L7. Reproductive status (t) and the total numbers of Neopyslla inopina, Opisocrostis bruneri, Oropsvlla rupestris, and Rhadinopsvlla fraterna removed from S. richardsonii at the Darlingford and St. Norbert sites, 1989 l-10 vLl-l- LÏST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE Geographic distribution of Spermophilus richardsonii . 02 Geographic distribution of oropsylla rupestris and its prirnary host, Spermophilus richardsonii 04 Geographic distribution of opisocrostis bruneri and the host, Spermophilus richardsonii 06 Locations of study sites in Manitoba, Canada and the respective occurrence of Neopsvlla inopina, opisocrostis bruneri, oropsylla rupestris and Rhadinopsylla fraterna on Spermophilus richardsonii 42 Seasonal distribution of biweekly captures of Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, l-987-l-988 60 Seasonal distribution of biweekly captures of Spermophilus richardsonii at the Perimeter (l-987) and St. Norbert (l-988) sites 64 Seasonal variation in the infestation parameters for Neopsylla inopina removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darl-ingford site, L987-L988 83 Seasonal variation in the infestation parameters for opisocrostis bruneri removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, i-987-L988 87 Seasonal variation in the infestation parameters for Oropsylla rupestris removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, l-987-l-988 . 90 l_x t-0. Seasonal variat,ion in the infestation parameters for Rhadinopsvlla fraterna removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, L987-L988 94 l_L. Seasonal variation in the infestation parameters for Opisocrostis bruneri removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Perimeter (L987) and St. Norbert (l-988) sites 97 12. Reproductive parameters for female Neopsylla inopina removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, L987.. 1-04 13. Reproductive parameters for female Neopsylla inopina removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, l-988.. 107 14. Reproductive parameters for female Opisocrostis bruneri removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, L987 LI2 15. Reproductive parameters for female Opisocrostis bruneri removed from Spermophilus richardsonii at the DarÌingford site, l-9BB 1,I4 1_6. Reproductive parameters for femal-e Oropsylla rupestris removed from Spermophj-lus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, 1-997.. tL7 17. Reproductive parameters for female Oropsylla rupestris removed from Spermophitus richardsonii at the Darlingford site, l-988.