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Open AccessArticle
First Records of Feather Mites and Haemosporidian Parasites in the Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) from the Westernmost Part of the Species Breeding Range
by
Nevena Kolarova
Nevena Kolarova 1,
Aneliya Bobeva
Aneliya Bobeva 2,
Mihaela Ilieva
Mihaela Ilieva 2,
Christoffer Sjöholm
Christoffer Sjöholm 3 and
Dimitar Dimitrov
Dimitar Dimitrov 2,*
1
Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, 8 Dragan Tzankov Blvd., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria
2
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
3
Independent Researcher, Äspinge 5069, 242 95 Hörby, Sweden
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Diversity 2024, 16(8), 436; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080436 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 22 June 2024
/
Revised: 18 July 2024
/
Accepted: 21 July 2024
/
Published: 23 July 2024
Abstract
Host range expansions are an important factor for shaping the community of associated symbiotic organisms. Birds, as a highly mobile group of animals, are of particular interest to study with respect to the diversity and the distribution of the organisms using them as hosts during such large-scale movements. The Isabelline wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina ) is a species with a main breeding area in Asia, which has expanded west, towards the Balkans, since the middle of the last century. We collected feather mites and blood samples for haemosporidian parasites screening from adult and juvenile Isabelline wheatears from the westernmost edge of the species breeding area in western Bulgaria. The feather mite species Alaudicola rosickyi (Černy, 1963), previously found on other wheatear species, was found for the first time on Isabelline wheatears. One species of avian malaria parasites—Plasmodium relictum (Grassi and Feletti, 1891) (lineage SGS1)—represented the first record of a malaria parasite in this host species in Europe. Increasing the sampling in the South European populations of the species will shed light on blood parasite species diversity and will reveal if other feather mite species have followed their host during its breeding range expansion.
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Kolarova, N.; Bobeva, A.; Ilieva, M.; Sjöholm, C.; Dimitrov, D.
First Records of Feather Mites and Haemosporidian Parasites in the Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) from the Westernmost Part of the Species Breeding Range. Diversity 2024, 16, 436.
https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080436
AMA Style
Kolarova N, Bobeva A, Ilieva M, Sjöholm C, Dimitrov D.
First Records of Feather Mites and Haemosporidian Parasites in the Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) from the Westernmost Part of the Species Breeding Range. Diversity. 2024; 16(8):436.
https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080436
Chicago/Turabian Style
Kolarova, Nevena, Aneliya Bobeva, Mihaela Ilieva, Christoffer Sjöholm, and Dimitar Dimitrov.
2024. "First Records of Feather Mites and Haemosporidian Parasites in the Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) from the Westernmost Part of the Species Breeding Range" Diversity 16, no. 8: 436.
https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080436
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