Meeting Abstract
Pheromone-mediated communication governs many aspects of insect behavior, population dynamics, and community ecology. For insect parasites, understanding the language of chemical communication may offer new insights into host-parasite interactions and provide novel strategies for combating parasites. Here, we study the possibility of pheromone-mediated communication in a feather-feeding louse (Columbicola columbae). These small parasites (~2 mm long) spend the large majority of their time hiding between the coarse barbs of flight feathers, and must periodically migrate to bird body regions to feed on insulative downy feathers. Using a Y-tube olfactometer, we show that lice readily move up the arm containing either male or female lice as compared to the arm without lice, demonstrating their ability to produce and orient to volatile pheromones. Interestingly, when forced to choose between an arm containing males and an arm with females, males strongly preferred the male arm while females preferred the female arm. This suggests the use of sex-specific pheromones. Finally, we show that pheromone production in lice appears to be dependent on their location on the host. Lice overwhelmingly moved up the arm towards those placed on flight feathers, whereas there was no preference for either arm when lice were placed on bird body feathers or kept in an arm without feathers. This suggests that lice produce pheromones only when located on their preferred host region (flight feathers), and can help explain their clumped distribution on flight feathers. We are currently working to determine the structures of volatile compounds produced by lice and to identify their use in pheromonal communication.
