Table 4 Studies on the effects of avian malaria and malaria-like infections in birds on the biting patterns of different insect vectors. Studies reporting positive, negative or absence of associations between parasite infections and the susceptibility of birds to insect attacks are reported
Effects | Vectors | Bird species | Parasite species | Methods | Results | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Positive | Cx. pipiens | Canaries | P. relictum SGS1 | Biting rate on immobilized birds exposed in pairs (blood-meal identification) | Infected birds were more bitten by uninfected mosquitoes than uninfected birdsa | [26] |
Cx. pipiens | Canaries | P. relictum SGS1 | Biting rate on immobilized birds exposed in pairs (blood-meal identification) | Infected birds were more bitten by infected and uninfected mosquitoes | [27] | |
Cx. pipiens | House sparrows | Plasmodium | Biting rate on birds exposed in pairs (blood-meal identification) | The intensity of infection but not the parasite prevalence determined the mosquito biting ratesb | [30] | |
Negative | Cx. pipiens | Great tits | Plasmodium | Attractivity of birds exposed in pairs (olfactometer) | Uninfected birds attracted more mosquitoes than infected ones | [29] |
Biting midges; blackflies | Blue tits | Haemoproteus majoris | Insect abundance in nest boxes of wild birds | A higher abundance of Culicoides was found in nests of primaquine-medicated females than controls; this was not the case for blackflies | [66] | |
Biting midges | Blue tits | Haemoproteus | Insect abundance in nest boxes of wild birds | A higher abundance of Culicoides festivipennis was found in nests from primaquine-medicated birds than controlsc | [67] | |
No effect | Cx. pipiens; Oc. caspius | House sparrows; jackdaws | Plasmodium | Biting rate on immobilized birds exposed individually | No effect of the infection status on biting rate | This study |