Comparative Ecology of Neotropical Bird Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera)

Data are presented comprising the first quantitative survey of lice from Neotropical birds. The data were collected in the Andean foothills of south-eastern Peru using a novel scheme for quantitative sampling of ectoparasites from freshly killed hosts. In total, 685 birds representing 127 species in 26 families were sampled for lice; 327 (47.7%) birds were parasitized, with a mean intensity of 6.6 lice per bird and a mean richness of 1.1 louse species per host species. The bulk of variation in louse load was among host species nested within genera, although some variation occurred at higher taxonomic levels