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Distribution of Dermanyssus gallinae (Mesostigmata : Dermanyssidae) in

Nests of Passerine Species

Article  in  Annals of Agri Bio Research · January 2021

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Annals of Agri-Bio Research 26 (1) : 64-69, 2021

Distribution of Dermanyssus gallinae (Mesostigmata : Dermanyssidae)

in Nests of Passerine Species

ROSITSA DAVIDOVA*, VIKTOR VASILEV, VESELIN ARNAUDOV AND MARIA

BOYCHEVA1

Department of Plant Protection, Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Natural Science, Konstantin Preslavsky University
of Shumen, 115 Universitetsca Str., 9700, Shumen, Bulgaria
*(e-mail : davidova_sh@yahoo.com; Mobile : 00359886658988)

(Received : August 18, 2020; Accepted : October 12, 2020)

ABSTRACT

The aim of the paper was to analyze the distribution of mite Dermanyssus gallinae, a haematophagous
ectoparasite, in nests of semi-collared flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata), great tit (Parus major) and eurasian
blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). The research was conducted in the Kamchia Mountain (North-eastern
Bulgaria), an area characterized by high concentration of birds with conservation significance. A total of
2483 specimens of D. gallinae were found in nests of birds. The species was present in 44.96% of
investigated nests. The prevalence and abundance of D. gallinae demonstrated significant variability in
the examined bird species during studied four years. In general, the species had the highest prevalence
in the nests of F. semitorquata and the highest abundance in the nests of C. caeruleus. The species
abundance was greatest in the nests of F. semitorquata in 2015 and in the nests of C. caeruleus in 2013.
In the nests of P. major in all the studied years the species had constant and lower density.

Key words : Mite, abundance, birds’ nests, annual dynamic

INTRODUCTION and Salmonella spp. between birds, Treponema,

The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae (De
Ge er, 1778), i s a haematophago us
ectoparasite in a wide range of wild and
domestic bird species and some species of
mammals and has a cosmopolite distribution
(Kazemi and Rajaei, 2013; Krištofík et al., 2013;
Tsakiris et al., 2013; Masan et al., 2014; Moodi
et al., 2014; Krawczyk et al., 2015; Gholipoury
et al., 2016; Gwiazdowicz et al., 2018; Negm et
al., 2018). It is one of the most important
ectoparasites of the poultry houses (Sparagano
et al., 2014, Mul et al., 2017). Studies show that
infestation with it can cause decline in bird
health due to lack of sleep and increased self-
pecking, decrease in egg production and a
decline in egg quality, disorders in reproductive
su ccess, w eig ht l oss, an emia, skin
inflammation, cannibalism and even mortality
among fledglings as well as adult birds. D.
gallinae can transmit viruses responsible for
Newcastle disease and fowl pox, the viruses
causing various forms of equine encephalitis,
can have a vector rhole for Borrelia anserine
Yersinia, and Pasteurella multocida (Chu et al.,
2015; George et al., 2015; Pritchard et al., 2015).
It is a potential vector for the bacteria
Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae which may cause
an infectious disease of many species of
mammals, wild and domestic birds. The same
mite leads to the development of anemia and
dermatitis in humans (Abdigoudarzi et al.,
2014; de Sousa and Filho, 2018; Navarrete-
Dechent and Uribe, 2018).
The region of Kamchia Mountain, selected for
this study, supported 189 bird species, 68 of
which were listed in the Red Data Book of
Bulgaria (Golemansky et al., 2013). Of the birds
occurring there 81 species are of European
conservation concern (SPEC), nine of them
being listed in category SPEC 1 as globally
threatened, 22 in SPEC 2 and 50 in SPEC 3 as
species threatened in Europe. The area
provides suitable habitats for 63 species,
included in Annex 2 of the Biodiversity Act,
which need special conservation measures.
Kamchia Mountain is located on the Via
Po ntica mi gratio n fl yw ay and h as

1
Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Science, Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, 115
Universitetsca Str., 9700, Shumen, Bulgaria.
 Dermanyssus gallinae in passerine’ nests 65

in te rn atio nal importance as a typical

bottleneck migration site for the pelicans,
storks and birds of prey that use it. Before
crossing the Balkan Mountain the migrating
birds concentrate in the region, as it is the
lowest part of the mountain and the easiest
obstacle to overcome. Kamchia Mountain is
one of the most important areas in the country
for many bird species, one of which is the
Ficedula semitoquata.
The aim of the present paper was to analyze
the distribution of mite D. gallinae in nests of
semi-collared flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata),
great tit (Parus major) and eurasian blue tit
(Cyanistes caeruleus) in North-East Bulgaria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The investigation was conducted near the

village of Goritsa, Varna District, Kamchia
Mountain (North-eastern Bulgaria; 42°556.37
N, 27°4915.64 E; Fig. 1). Artificial nest boxes
(Fig. 2) were placed in the study area, along
the Bulgarian route No. 9 (E87), which ran
between Varna and Burgas. The nest material
was collected from the wooden nest boxes after
the end of breeding of birds. In the laboratory,
the isolation of ectoparasites living in the birds’
nests was done by means of Tulgren’s funell
and by hand with the help of a stereomicroscope.
The collected specimens were preserved in 75%
ethanol. Temporary whole mounts were made
in lactophenol in order to examine the
specimens using a microscope. In this study,
prevalence (percentage of nests in which the
species occurred) and abundance (the number
of specimens of D. gallinae per nest) was
statistically analyzed using Statistica 9.0.
Fig. 1. Map showing the study area and location of
the sampling sites.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
During investigated period, a total of 237 nests
of F. semitorquata, P. major and C. caeruleus were
surveyed. Their year-wise distribution is
presented in Table 1. The species D. gallinae was
present in 107 (44.96%) of nests. For the whole
study period, the ectoparasite was found in 84
(50.60% ) of the 166 nests of F. semitorquata, in
14 (31.82%) of the examined 44 nests of P. major
and in 9 (33.33%) of 27 nests of C. caeruleus (Table
1). In nests of F. semitorquata and P. major, D.
gallinae had the highest prevalence in 2012,
when it was found in 78 and 67% of nests,
respectively, and the smallest in 2014 when
found only in 6 and 13% of the nests (Fig. 3). In
the nests of C. caeruleus in 2014 and 2015, the

Fig. 2. Wooden nest box (A) and nests of F. semitorquata (B) and P. major (C).
66 Davidova, Vasilev, Arnaudov and Boycheva

Table 1. Year-wise number of studied nests of the three bird species and number of nests where D. gallinae was
confirmed

Species Ficedula semitorquata Parus major Cyanistes caeruleus

Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015

No 50 56 33 27 3 14 8 19 3 9 6 9
N 39 27 2 16 2 6 1 5 2 7 0 0
Ng 19 20 2 10 0 3 1 1 2 4 0 0

Where, No=Number of studied nests; N=Number of nests with D. gallinae and Ng=Number of nests in which D.
gallinae was the only mite species.

Considering only the nest boxes occupied in

Fig. 3. Pie charts showing the prevalence of D.
gallinae in nests of birds in different years.
species was not found at all, and in the other
two years there was a high frequency of 67 and
78%, respectively.
Comparing the degree of infestation with D.
gallinae of nests of the bird species studied,
there was similarity in the first three years of
the investigation. In 2012 and 2013, it was
relatively high, between 43 and 78% , and in
2014 it was very low in all three bird species.
Differences were observed in 2015 when in
the nests of F. semitorquata prevalence was
found similar to that in the first two years,
whereas in the nests of P. major the prevalence
was very low and in C. caeruleus nests no
parasites were detected (Fig. 3).
In 51 (30.72% ) nests of F. semitorquata, in four
(9.09% ) of the nests of P. major and in six
(22.22% ) of the nests of C. caeruleus the only
mite species observed was D. gallinae (Table
1). It should be noted that in 2014, when the
infestation of the nests of F. semitorquata and
P. major was extremely low, in all three nests
in which the species was found, it was the only
mite fauna represented. The same was
observed in 2012 for nests of C. caeruleus in
bo th the n ests wh ere it was fo un d as
representative.
different years by the same bird species, it was
established.
In F. semitorquata, only one nest box was
occupied by this bird species in four years, and
D. gallinae was found in three of the years.
Eleven of the nest boxes were occupied by semi-
collared flycatcher in three of the years, and
only in one box the parasite was found in all
three years. In six of the nests, D. gallinae was
established only in one year, and in four in
two of the years. Thirty of the nest boxes were
occupied by F. semitorquata in two of the years
and only four of them had D. gallinae present
in both the years. In 20 of them, the species
was found in one of the years and in six it was
not found at all. In P. major, one nest box was
occupied by this bird during three years studied
and D. gallinae not observed in any of them.
Four of the nest boxes were occupied by great
tit in two of the years, and in three of them
the parasite was found in one of the years, and
in one it was not detected at all. In C. caeruleus,
one nest box was occupied by this bird during
three of the years studied and D. gallinae was
found in one of the years. Five of the nest boxes
were occupied by a blue tit during two of the
years and in none of them the parasite was
detected.
A total of 2483 specimens of D. gallinae were
found, though this number varied from year to
year. It was extremely small in 2014, when
only eight specimens were found in all nests
and was significantly larger in the other years
when it reached 665 specimens in 2012, 913
in 2013 and 897 in 2015. There was significant
difference in the specimens’ number between
2014 and 2013 (t test, P = 0.05). The number of
specimens per nest ranged from 0.17 (in 2014)
to 16.31 (in 2015). In nests of F. semitorquata,
1938 specimens of D. gallinae were established
(abundance 11.67). Further, 145 specimens in
nests of P. major (abundance 3.30) and 400
 Dermanyssus gallinae in passerine’ nests
specimens in nests of C. caeruleus (abundance
14.81) were established.
The mean number of specimens per nest of D.
gallinae ran ge d widel y in ne sts of F.
semitorquata in years from 0.09 (in 2014) to
31.96 (in 2015). The species abundance in 2015
reached to 395 specimens per nest (Fig. 4).
Considerable variability was also observed in
C. caeruleus nests from 0 in 2014 and 2015 to
41.67 in 2013, when the species abundance
reached to 150 individuals in one nest. In the
nests of P. major both significantly lower
abundance of D. gallinae was found. The largest
number of specimens was 40 in 2013 and less
variability over the years from 0.63 (in 2014)
to 7.33 (in 2012). Mean number of specimens
per nest in 2013 was significantly higher in
nests of F. semitorquata in comparison with
nests of C. caeruleus (P = 0.005684) and in nests
of C. caeruleus in comparison with its in nests
of P. major (P = 0.02486).
D. gallinae was widespread and had over 30
species of wild birds as its hosts as its
frequency of occurrence and abundance in
their nests varied widely (Tsakiris et al., 2013;
Mašán et al., 2014; Moodi et al., 2014;
Gwiazdowicz et al., 2018; Negm et al., 2018).
Th ere are numerou s re fe ren ce s in the
literature describing the fauna of mites
inhabiting the nests of different bird species,
but most of them lack specific data on the
prevalence and abundance of D. gallinae. Based
on published Slovak records, the most frequent
Fig. 4. Boxes showing the abundance of D. gallinae in nests of birds in different years.
67
infestation was found in the nests of Columba
livia f. domestica, Passer montanus and Gallus
gallus var. domesticus (Mašán et al., 2014). In
feral pigeons’ nests (Columba livia f. domestica)
in different regions of Slovakia established
that the abundance of D. gallinae fluctuated
from 4.96 and 20.48 (in region of Bratislava) to
110.5 (in Skalica) and 769.25 (in Lutila) and
the prevalence fluctuated from 51.85%
(Bratislava) to 100% (Lutila and Hlinik and
Hronom). According to the authors, the
occu re nce of D. g allinae in n ests w as
influenced by climatic factors and on the other
hand by sufficiency of food in the breeding
period of host. Also observed that D. gallinae
was relatively rare with a small number of
specimens in the nests of Acrocephalus
arundinaceus. Krištofík et al. (2013) found that
ectoparasites of the genera Dermanyssus and
Ornithonyssus represented only 0.4% of all
mites in nests of hoopoe (Upupa epops) in
Central Europe. Among the wild birds, D.
gallinae was more frequently found in the nests
of birds that were common in synanthropic and
urban habitats, namely, Anas platyrhynchos,
Corvus frugilegus, Cygnus olor, Delichon urbicum,
Falco tinnunculus, Hirundo rustica, Motacilla
alba, Passer spp., Phoenicurus ochruros and
Turdus merula (Mašán et al., 2014). Moreover,
all avian blood-sucking mesostigmatic mites
had a wide host range, but occurred in specific
nest types. Bloszyk et al. (2016) investigated
mesostigmatid communities from 69 nest
68 Davidova, Vasilev, Arnaudov and Boycheva
boxes of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in parks
from Warsaw, Poland and found that D. gallinae
dominated (85.95% ) with the frequency of this
species reaching 92.8% . Ghalehjoughi et al.
(2017) indicated that D. gallinae had overall
prevalence of 35.29% in the barn swallow
(Hirundo rustica) nests in North-West of Iran.
In terms of prevalence, the infestation of the
nests of semi-collared flycatcher was very
similar to that in C. livia f. domestica nests in
Bratislava. The degree of infestation of the
nests of great and blue tit was similar to that
of the nests of H. rustica in North-West of Iran
(Ghalehjoughi et al., 2017). In all three bird
species, however, in some of the years low
prevalence was observed or no nest infestation.
In terms of abundance it was lower for D.
gallinae in all three bird species.
CONCLUSION
D. gallinae is a widespread and common
parasite, and in some of the years and nests it
was th e on ly on e. The preval en ce and
abundance of D. gallinae demonstrated
significant variability in the examined bird
species and during four years study. In general,
the species had the highest prevalence in the
nests of F. semitorquata and the highest
abundance in the nests of C. caeruleus. The
species abundance was greatest in the nests
of F. semitorquata in 2015 and in the nests of
C. caeruleus in 2013. In the nests of P. major in
all the studied years the species had constant
and lower density. In the nests of C. caeruleus,
a constancy in terms of the prevalence and
abundance of D. gallinae was observed for the
tw o ye ars in wh ich th e spe ci es w as
established. During three monitored years
2012, 2013 and 2014, the nests of bird species
studied showed a similar degree of infestation
by D. gallinae.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was carried out in the frame of
projects RD-08-73/02.02.2019 funded by the
University of Shumen. The authors are
grateful to Johan Traft (Sweden) to use
installed nesting boxes.
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