ArticlePloS one2021
Promiscuous specialists: Host specificity patterns among generalist louse flies.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Morphological and genetic variation in theInternational journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2026Article
- Louse Flies on the Fly: Host Macroecology Shapes Interspecific Variation in Ectoparasite Prevalence Among Migrating Birds.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Citizen science reveals host-switching in louse flies and keds (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) during a period of anthropogenic change.Medical and veterinary entomology · 2026Article
- Diversity of obligate ectoparasites and parasitism patterns in wild birds of the Balearic Islands: new chewing lice records for Spain.Parasitology · 2026Article
- Fauna of Louse Flies (Hippoboscidae) from Scops Owls (Zoological studies · 2026Article
- Design of species-specific molecular markers for PCR-based differentiation of bird louse fliesCurrent research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2026Article
- Article
- Citizen scientists mapping the United Kingdom's and Republic of Ireland's flat flies (louse flies) (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) reveal a vector's range shift.Medical and veterinary entomology · 2025Article
- Louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) of Romania: New records and novel host-parasite and hyperparasites associations.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2025Article
- A new species of louse fly,International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2025Article
- Host-related genetic differentiation of a polyxenic avian ectoparasite,International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2025Article
- A species-level multi-trophic metaweb for Switzerland.Scientific data · 2025Article
- Contributions to our knowledge on avian louse flies (Hippoboscidae: Ornithomyinae) with the first European record of the African species Ornithoctona laticornis.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- Avian Louse Flies and Their Trypanosomes: New Vectors, New Lineages and Host-Parasite Associations.Microorganisms · 2022Article
- Louse fly (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) associations with raptors in southern Canada, with new North American and European records.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ectoparasites such as louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) have tendency for host specialization, which is driven by adaptation to host biology as well as competition avoidance between parasites of the same host. However, some louse fly species, especially in genera attacking birds, show wide range of suitable hosts. In the presented study, we have surveyed the current status of bird specific louse flies in Finland to provide comprehensive host association data to analyse the ecological requirements of the generalist species. A thorough sampling of 9342 birds, representing 134 species, recovered 576 specimens of louse flies, belonging to six species: Crataerina hirundinis, C. pallida, Ornithomya avicularia, O. chloropus, O. fringillina and Ornithophila metallica. Despite some overlapping hosts, the three Ornithomya species showed a notable pattern in their host preference, which was influenced not only by the host size but also by the habitat and host breeding strategy. We also provide DNA barcodes for ten Finnish species of Hippoboscidae, which can be used as a resource for species identification as well as metabarcoding studies in the future.
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