Colonization of a novel host by fleas: changes in egg production and egg size

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 120; no. 2; pp. 451 - 459
• Main Authors: Stavtseva, Nadezhda A., Fielden, Laura J., Khokhlova, Irina S., Warburton, Elizabeth M., van der Mescht, Luther, Krasnov, Boris R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adaptation; Animal behavior; Animals; Arthropods and Medical Entomology - Original Paper; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Colonization; Egg industry; Egg production; Eggs; Female; Flea Infestations - parasitology; Fleas; Host Specificity; Host-Parasite Interactions; Immunology; Male; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Ovum - cytology; Ovum - physiology; Reproduction - physiology; Siphonaptera; Siphonaptera - classification; Siphonaptera - physiology; Species; Sympatric populations; Xenopsylla - physiology; Sympatric; Egg number; Egg size; Principal host; Allopatric
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-021-07052-8

We studied the success of fleas, Synosternus cleopatrae and Xenopsylla ramesis , in switching to a novel host by establishing experimental lines maintained on different hosts for 18 generations. Fleas fed on principal (P-line) or novel hosts, either sympatric with (S-line) or allopatric to (A-line) a flea and its principal host, then we assessed their reproductive performance via the number and size of eggs. We compared reproductive performance between hosts within a line and between lines within a host asking: (a) whether fleas adapt to a novel host species after multiple generations; (b) if yes, whether the pattern of adaptation differs between novel host species sympatric with or allopatric to a flea and its principal host; and (c) adaptation to a novel host is accompanied with a loss of success in exploitation of an original host. Fleas from the S- and A-lines increased their egg production on a novel host (except X. ramesis from the S-line). S. cleopatrae from the S-line but not the A-line increased egg size on a novel host, whereas X. ramesis from the A-line but not the S-line produced larger eggs from a novel host. We found no indication of a loss of reproductive performance on the original host while adapting to a novel host. We conclude that fleas are able to switch rapidly to a new host with the pattern of a switch to either sympatric or an allopatric host depending on the identities of both flea and host species.