An evaluation of the effectivity of the scrub technique in quantitative ectoparasite ecology

The effectivity of the scrub technique used in quantitative parasite ecology to collect ectoparasites from mammalian skins was evaluated. This was done by reprocessing already scrubbed skins with the alkali digestion technique to remove any remaining parasites. The skins of six adult impala (Aepycer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental & applied acarology 1992-10, Vol.15 (4), p.271-283
Main Authors: VAN DYK, P. J, MCKENZIE, A. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Antelopes
Biological and medical sciences
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects. Techniques
Invertebrates
Mammalia
Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...)
Parasites
Parasitology - methods
Skin - parasitology
Time Factors
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Summary:The effectivity of the scrub technique used in quantitative parasite ecology to collect ectoparasites from mammalian skins was evaluated. This was done by reprocessing already scrubbed skins with the alkali digestion technique to remove any remaining parasites. The skins of six adult impala (Aepyceros melampus) ewes were used in the study. The results showed that the scrub technique is variable in its effectivity, and on average removed only 30.2% ectoparasites from the skins. It was also shown that the scrub technique is unreliable and more labour intensive and time consuming than the digestion technique, and should preferably not be used in quantitative studies.
ISSN:0168-8162
1572-9702
DOI:10.1007/BF01246568