New records of fleas (Siphonaptera) from the nests of house martins

摘要

House martin Delichon urbica (L) nests are known to harbour large numbers of several flea species (Siphonaptera) (Smiddy and Sleeman 1993), and the hippoboscid louse-fly Crataerina hirundinis (L) (Smiddy 1997). The house martin is a colonial species, and most nests are found on artificial sites such as dwelling houses. Some also nest on natural sea cliff sites. In order to examine ectoparasite populations, we collected 17 nests of the house martin between September 1994 and January 1995 in counties Cork and Waterford using a garden spade with an extendable handle and a plastic bag attachment. Seven nests were collected from under the eaves of dwelling houses and ten from sea cliffs. To facilitate examination each nest was placed in a deep white plastic bucket, the nest material was sorted and slowly removed and all fleas collected and preserved. Twelve nests were examined within one week of collection, and the remainder was stored in ambient temperature for up to two months. Identification was carried out using a binocular microscope and the guide of Smit (1957). Because of time constraints, in cases where more than 500 fleas were present, a sub-sample ranging from 27.6 per cent to 73.2 per cent of the total was examined. All but one of these nests was also examined for the presence of louse-flies (Smiddy 1997). All house martin colonies studied were small and held from one to eleven nests with a mean of 5.3 (n = 11, s.d. = 3.8). All colonies were known to be in existence for several years, and all nests collected were known to be occupied during the breeding season prior to collection.