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Macroparasite community of the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris): poor species richness and diversity

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Abstract

The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is the only naturally occurring tree squirrel throughout its range. We aim at improving current knowledge on its macroparasite fauna, expecting that it will have a poor parasite diversity because in species that have no sympatric congeners parasite richness should be lower than in hosts sharing their range with several closely related species, where host-switching events and lateral transmission are promoted. We examined gastro-intestinal helminth and ectoparasite communities (excluding mites) of, respectively, 147 and 311 red squirrel roadkills collected in four biogeographic regions in Italy and France. As expected, the macroparasite fauna was poor: we found five species of nematodes and some unidentified cestodes, three fleas, two sucking lice and two hard ticks. The helminth community was dominated by a single species, the oxyurid Trypanoxyuris (Rodentoxyuris) sciuri (prevalence, 87 %; mean abundance, 373 ± 65 worms/host). Its abundance varied among seasons and biogeographic regions and increased with body mass in male hosts while decreased in females. The most prevalent ectoparasites were the flea Ceratophyllus (Monopsyllus) sciurorum (28 %), whose presence was affected by season, and the generalist tick Ixodes (Ixodes) ricinus that was found only in France (34 %). All the other helminths and arthropod species were rare, with prevalence below 10 %. However, the first record of Strongyloides robustus, a common nematode of North American Eastern grey squirrels (S. carolinensis), in two red squirrels living in areas where this alien species co-inhabits, deserves further attention, since low parasite richness could result in native red squirrels being particularly vulnerable to parasite spillover.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank The French Ministry of Ecology (MEDDE), and the French National Forestry Office (ONF) for funding. Field collection could not have been possible without the help of the LIFE09 NAT/IT/00095 EC-SQUARE, ONF French Mammal Network, Trento and Sondrio Provinces, Stelvio National Park, Piedmont Regional Parks, Carmagnola Museum and the various people who have collected squirrels, with special thanks to Sandro Bertolino and Gwenaël Landais. Many thanks to Anne Dozières, Christie Le Coeur, Carole Lapèyre, Leila Luise, Charlotte Récapet, Francesca Santicchia and Sara Vedovato for their kind assistance in laboratory analyses. Many thanks to Jean-Claude Beaucournu who initiated the identification of fleas at an early stage of this study and to Damiano Preatoni who produced Fig. 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Claudia Romeo & Nicola Saino

  2. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Department of Ecology and Biodiversity Management, UMR 7204 CNRS-MNHN P6, 61 Rue Buffon, CP 53, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Benoît Pisanu & Jean-Louis Chapuis

  3. Department of Veterinary Sciences and Public Health,, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Nicola Ferrari

  4. Office National des Forêts, 535 rue Bercaille, 39006, Lons-le-Saunier, France

    Franck Basset

  5. Office National des Forêts, Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2 Avenue St Mandé, 75570, Paris Cedex 12, France

    Laurent Tillon

  6. Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università dell’Insubria, via J.H. Dunant, 3-21100, Varese, Italy

    Lucas A. Wauters & Adriano Martinoli

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  1. Claudia Romeo
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Romeo, C., Pisanu, B., Ferrari, N. et al. Macroparasite community of the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris): poor species richness and diversity. Parasitol Res 112, 3527–3536 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3535-8

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