Ectoparasite load assessment (Sciuridae)

Knowledge graph centered on Ectoparasite load assessment (Sciuridae) with 31 nodes and 109 connections. Top connected: Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Marmota, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Beetles.

Method synopsis

Regular combing of trapped marmots to count fleas displaced onto white flannel cloth, with counts standardized by body mass.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 1 paper using this protocol.

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Steps below were extracted from the most recent peer-reviewed implementation of this protocol in the corpus — Social attributes and associated performance measures in marmots: bigger male bullies and weakly affiliating females have higher annual reproductive success (2012), Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

1. Ectoparasite sampling
   In 2007 and 2008, researchers aimed to comb marmots once every 2 weeks during trapping and counted fleas (Thrassis stanfordi—Van Vuren 1996) that were displaced onto a white flannel cloth. Larger hosts may tend to have more parasites (Shine 1989); thus, researchers converted the absolute number of fleas into fleas per kilogram and averaged these values for each individual each year.
   Quantities: Fleas counted and converted to fleas per kilogram per individual per yearDuration: Every 2 weeks during trapping in 2007 and 2008Conditions: During trapping sessions
   Equipment: white flannel cloth, combing equipment, scales for weighing

Typical Equipment

• white flannel cloth
• combing equipment
• scales for weighing

Output Measurements

• flea count per kilogram

Papers Using This Protocol (1)

Species Studied With This Protocol

Places Where Used