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Invertebrates of South America
Биолог: JOrnitho, what do you think of adding some South American free-living invertebrates in rainforests, maybe also Andean highlands and Atlantic forest? You've added only a bee so far, and some are already present in the bestiary, as follows: Four-striped honey bee Humped nurse stinkbug Supai ant - Russian Barrel beetle, or cylindrical caphead - Russian Any other ideas?
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JOrnitho: Биолог пишет: Any other ideas? Sometime ago, I thought about a descendant of the kissing bug that was parasited by a new species of Trypanosoma that can enter its mammal hosts directly by the insect's saliva. However, I'm not a microbiologist, so I don’t know how to make a good description for them.
Биолог: JOrnitho Ah, now I recall that! I can help you to make a descendant of kissing bug and the parasite transmitted by it - a Trypanosoma descendant. I will describe my ideas later.
JOrnitho: Биолог пишет: I can help you to make a descendant of kissing bug and the parasite transmitted by it - a Trypanosoma descendant. I will describe my ideas later. Ok! I also thought about some species of butterflies.
Биолог: JOrnitho Oh, so did I! I thought about some species of Morphids - they are so beautiful!
JOrnitho: Биолог пишет: Oh, so did I! I thought about some species of Morphids - they are so beautiful! Yes! A blue butterfly that is endemic to the Atlantic forests of the Southern South America could even appear in the chapter.
Биолог: JOrnitho Yes! But let's get done with bugs and trypanosoma in the first place.
JOrnitho: Биолог пишет: Yes! But let's get done with bugs and trypanosoma in the first place. Yes. Maybe the common name of the bug could be barbeiro, which was the one used in Brazil for their ancestors.
Биолог: JOrnitho Yes! Here is the description: Barbeiro, burrow fleabug (Microreduvius pulexoides) Order Hemiptera Family Reduviidae, subfamily Triatominae Habitat: American tropics, parasite of burrowing mammals Blood-sucking bed bugs of the family Cimicidae were not the only group of bugs that pestered humans in the Holocene. In both Americas, the triatomine bugs of the Reduviidae family lived alongside them and also fed on human and animal blood, although they adapted to parasitism to a markedly lesser extent. In the Neocene, the triatomine bugs, in their struggle for survival, also took the path of deeper adaptation to parasitism on animals, primarily mammals. The burrow fleabug is a very small species: no more than 3 mm long. Its external resemblance to its ancestors is partially preserved: abdomen with lateral "plates" is narrow and slender, like the thorax, the elongated narrow head has a firm rigid proboscis, which bends under the thorax at rest. The whole body is strongly flattened and colored dark brown. The main feature of this genus is the reduction of wings - they are very shortened and hidden under the short elytra. The legs are shorter than those of the ancestors, and bear tenacious claws to hold on to the host; the proboscis is also shorter and thicker. Stinking glands are preserved: the disturbed bug, defending itself, secretes a foul-smelling volatile fluid. As the bug feeds, its abdomen can become very swollen and stained red with blood. The burrow fleabug parasitizes any animals that have a permanent shelter, a burrow or other den. Adults, larvae, and nymphs feed only on animal blood. During reproduction, bed bugs fall into the bedding and mate and lay eggs there. The larvae that emerge after 7-10 days crawl onto the host and begin to feed. During the human era, triatomine bugs carried in their saliva a dangerous flagellate parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of American trypanosomiasis, also known as Chagas disease. Since human extinction, trypanosomes have adapted to parasitism on animals, like the African descendants of the sleeping sickness agent Trypanosoma brucei, and are also carried by the descendants of the triatomine bugs. The hair bug (M. pediculoides) went even further in adapting to parasitism: it became even smaller (no more than 1.5 mm) and acquired large sickle-shaped claws on its legs for clinging to hairs, and mating and laying of eggs occur on the host body - the eggs are "glued" by the female to the hair. These features give it a resemblance to lice. The body coloration is pale, grayish-yellow, and the abdomen swells and turns red when saturated with blood. It also carries trypanosomes, infecting animals with them.
JOrnitho: Биолог Excellent description! Are you going to make one for the Trypanosoma too?
Биолог: JOrnitho Yeah, working on it.
Биолог: JOrnitho, I'm done with trypanosoma: Bug-transmitted microtrypanosome (Microtrypanosoma barbeiri) Order Trypanosomatida Family Trypanosomatidae Habitat: American tropics, parasite of mammals In the Holocene, flagellates of the Trypanosoma genus used to cause dangerous human diseases on three continents - Africa and both Americas. The African species T. brucei, transmitted by tsetse flies, caused sleeping sickness, which was often fatal. Its relative in the Americas, T. cruzi, was transmitted by triatomine bugs and caused a similar disease. After human extinction, their descendants have adapted to parasitism on animals - the alcecorn trypanosoma appeared in Africa, and in the tropics of America a descendant of T. cruzi became a parasite of burrowing animals transmitted by the descendants of triatomine bugs. The microtrypanosome is smaller than the ancestor: no more than 10 μm long. The trypanomastigote cells in the blood of an affected animal are narrow, but have a lemon-shaped outline due to a wide undulating membrane on one side. The end of the flagellum extends beyond the membrane and reaches the same length as the cell. Trypomastigotes multiply actively by longitudinal divisions, with their surface antigenic set often changing to avoid the host immune system. Trypomastigotes also release toxins that weaken the host's immune defense and nervous system. The animal becomes lethargic, stops feeding normally, and often dies, falling prey to predators. During the course of the disease, the bug bites the animal again and becomes infected again, and the larvae are infected the same way. In the body of the bug, the trypomastigotes migrate from the intestinal tract to the salivary glands and turn into non-flagellated spherical amastigotes up to 7 µm in diameter, waiting for a new bite to infect a new host. The host spectrum of this species is determined by the spectrum of bug's hosts: these are mostly animals with a permanent den or burrow in whose bedding the bugs mate and lay eggs. Trypanosomes carried by the hairbug have a wider host spectrum, since the hairbug spends its entire life cycle on the host's body. P.S. The alcecorn trypanosoma has only a Russian description, sorry.
JOrnitho: Биолог I like it! Excelent description!
Биолог: JOrnitho Thank you!
Биолог: Here's the parasite: Scabioid chewing-louse (Scabiopon obreri) Class Phthiraptera Family Menoponidae Habitat: South America, parasite of sociable horneros Chewing lice of the Holocene were a special group of parasitic insects that lived on the plumage of birds. They resembled lice by appearance, but fed not on blood (or not only blood), but on particles of the skin and feathers. The damage to the feathers sometines could be extensive and deep, and the bird experienced itching and skin irritation. In the Neocene, one species of chewing lice in South America has adapted to a deeper parasitism on sociable horneros. The scabioid chewing-louse is noticeably smaller than its ancestors: females are no more than 0.2 mm in length, while males are 1.5 to 2 times smaller. The body is narrow and elongated; the head is also narrow; the chewing-type mouthparts are facing forward. The antennae are short and thick, resembling only bumps, but very sensitive: the scabioid chewing-louse has a good sense of odor. The eyes are reduced, the legs are short and strong, thickened, with strong curved claws. The body coloration is initially very pale, yellowish, but changes to a darker color as the insect feeds on feather material. The life cycle of the scabioid chewing-louse differs from the ancestral one and is partially similar to that of the itch mite (hence the name). Adults enter the feather rachis at the base, then move inside it to the calamus and then gnaw through the calamus to make burrows in the bird’s skin. They feed on skin and feather particles, but also collect tiny drops of the bird’s blood and lymph in the burrows. Males and females mate in the passages, and females lay eggs. Larvae that hatch after 5-6 days feed on skin, feathers and tissue fluids in the same manner as adults. As the parasite burrows from feather calami into the skin, the bird feels a strong itch and starts to scratch itself with its beak, often damaging its skin and giving the parasite new food (blood), and at the same time promotes the transmission of parasites. The damaged skin can become inflamed, and feathers can break and fall off. The scabioid chewing-louse cannot survive for a long time without body heat of birds (it is crucial for the development of eggs and larvae), but it can travel from one nest to another within social constructions of sociable horneros, thus affecting the entire colony. JOrnitho, how is it?
JOrnitho: Биолог It's very good!
Биолог: JOrnitho Thanks! I was also thinking of a parasitic mite, a descendant of Demodex canis. It can live in hair follicles of uktenas in the chapter "A War for the Hollow".
JOrnitho: Биолог пишет: Thanks! I was also thinking of a parasitic mite, a descendant of Demodex canis. It can live in hair follicles of uktenas in the chapter "A War for the Hollow". Good idea!
Биолог: JOrnitho Here it is: Great inverted skin mite (Macrodemodex inversus) Division Trombidiformes Family Demodecidae Habitat: South America, parasite of uktenas Among human parasitic mites there were not only blood-sucking ones, but also forms that adapted to permanent life in sebaceous glands and hair follicles of the skin. Such were representatives of the genus Demodex – very small (up to 0.2 mm) mites with very shortened legs and long worm-like abdomen. A number of species lived on the body of animals, a well known species was the canine skin mite (Demodex canis), which sometimes caused severe diseases in dogs. In neocene, a descendant of one species of these mites has switched to parasitism on the body of South American uktenas and developed new adaptations. This species is larger than its ancestor - females reach 2 mm in length with body (abdomen) thickness in starvation only 0.1 mm or even less, males do not exceed 0.3 mm in length, their abdomen is also thin. The whole body of the mite is hyaline, there are 4 pairs of legs on the cephalothorax, more developed in males than in females, in females the legs represented only by bumps with a claw on each. The great inverted skin mites are named for the characteristic position of females during the period of active feeding. They feed by going “head” first down into a follicle or a sebaceous gland and fixing themselves there with their legs. The abdomen is directed outward along the gland duct and may somewhat increase in thickness as they feed. Males crawl and feed nearby. Both feed on sebum and skin particles, like their ancestors. When breeding time arrives, males crawl up to the end of the abdomen of a female to mate with her. After fertilization, the females lay eggs, which are released outside and spread by the animal when it scratches its body with its teeth and paws. Infection of other animals with eggs occurs through close contact (courtship, mating, etc.). The larvae that emerge from the eggs within a few days are six-legged, acquiring a 4th pair of legs as they molt. Under normal state of immunity in the uktena, the mite does not cause much harm, but in weakened animals it can cause serious disease, up to baldness (similar to what was observed in holocene dogs). The great inverted skin mite parasitizes only uktenas and does not occur on other animals.
JOrnitho: Биолог Good mite! I was thinking if there could be some insects to be the prey of the tiny bat.
Биолог: JOrnitho Oh, plenty of them in South America! Large beetles, butterflies and their caterpillars...
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