Scanning electron microscope image of a pigeon fly (Pseudolynchia canariensis) carrying two wing lice (Columbicola columbae)IMAGE: COURTESY OF CHRIS HARBISON SEM COURESY OF E.H. BURTT, Jr. AND J. ICHIDA (OHIO WESLANYAN UNIVERSITY)How well lice are able to latch onto pigeon flies and catch a lift to new bird hosts affects how the lice evolve. Lice species carried aloft by flies spread to more species and tend to speciate at different times than their hosts, while ground-bound lice more closely coevolve with the birds they infect.
The results, published yesterday (May 23) online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that the coevolution of hosts and parasites can be influenced by other species in the community.
"You always think about coevolution as happening between just two lineages, but these lineages are often embedded in very complex communities," said evolutionary ecologist Chris Harbison of Siena College in New York, lead author on the study. "Even a simple interaction like hitchhiking on a fly can have long-term consequences in terms of longterm patterns of coevolution."
At a glance, bird-dwelling feather lice species seem nearly indistinguishable, with the parasites infecting similar species, feeding upon the same feathers and dead skin, and sharing a similar lifecycle. But they can exhibit more subtle behaviors ...
