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Do malaria parasites manipulate the escape behaviour of their avian hosts? An experimental study

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Abstract

Escape behaviour is the behaviour that birds and other animals display when already caught by a predator. An individual exhibiting higher intensity of such anti-predator behaviour could have greater probabilities of escape from predators. Parasites are known to affect different aspects of host behaviour to increase their own fitness. Vector-transmitted parasites such as malaria parasites should gain by manipulating their hosts to enhance the probability of transmission. Several studies have shown that malaria parasites can manipulate their vectors leading to increased transmission success. However, little is known about whether malaria parasites can manipulate escape behaviour of their avian hosts thereby increasing the spread of the parasite. Here we used an experimental approach to explore if Plasmodium relictum can manipulate the escape behaviour of one of its most common avian hosts, the house sparrow Passer domesticus. We experimentally tested whether malaria parasites manipulate the escape behaviour of their avian host. We showed a decrease in the intensity of biting and tonic immobility after removal of infection with anti-malaria medication compared to pre-experimental behaviour. These outcomes suggest that infected sparrows performed more intense escape behaviour, which would increase the likelihood of individuals escaping from predators, but also benefit the parasite by increasing its transmission opportunities.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competition (CGL2009-08976 and CGL2012-36665) and the Regional Government of Extremadura (GRU: 10134). Luz Garcia-Longoria was supported by a PhD grant from Ministry of Economy and Competition of Spain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de Elvas s/n, 06006, Cáceres, Spain

    Luz Garcia-Longoria, Florentino de Lope & Alfonso Marzal

  2. Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS UMR 8079 Bâtiment 362, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Anders P. Møller

  3. Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Edificio Verde, Avda. de Reina Mercedes s/n, 41013, Sevilla, Spain

    Javier Balbontín

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  1. Luz Garcia-Longoria
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  2. Anders P. Møller
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  3. Javier Balbontín
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  4. Florentino de Lope
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  5. Alfonso Marzal
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Correspondence to Luz Garcia-Longoria.

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Garcia-Longoria, L., Møller, A.P., Balbontín, J. et al. Do malaria parasites manipulate the escape behaviour of their avian hosts? An experimental study. Parasitol Res 114, 4493–4501 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4693-7

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