Feather lice (Mallophaga) of the Irish Dipper Cinclus cinclus hibernicus

Forty Dippers Cinclus cinclus hibernicus were caught and deloused in southwest Ireland in 2003. Two species of lice (Mallophaga) were recorded; Philopterus cincli and Myrsidea franciscoloi. Both these species are known ectoparasites of the Dipper, yet these records were the first for Ireland. The incidence and infestation rates reported in this study were significantly greater than those recorded in Dippers from two studies in Wales and Germany. Ectoparasites play an important role in the lives of birds. As with other biotic interactions, such as predation and competition, parasitism has far reaching implications for the ecology and evolution of a species. Indeed, the study of bird-ectoparasite associations has provided many influential examples of parasite-mediated ecology and evolution (Proctor & Owens 2000). In recent years, parasitism has received much attention from a conservation perspective. For example, Loye & Carroll (1995) detail how a parasitic fly has determined the fate of the endangered Puerto Rican Parrot Amazona vittata. Therefore, studies of bird-ectoparasite associations, such as this one, provide valuable scientific information. This paper describes aspects of the population of feather lice (Mallophaga) collected from 40 Irish Dippers Cinclus cinclus hibernicus. In keeping with standard usage (Margolis et al 1982) we refer to host specificity as the species of lice associated with the host, the incidence rate as the proportion of hosts which are infested, and the infestation rate as the average number of parasites per host. The aim of this study was to examine the occurrence and distribution of Mallophaga on Dippers from Ireland. We also compare our findings to those recorded for Dipper populations in Wales (C