Relation of Ectoparasite Load to Host Size and Standard Range

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Abstract
A review was made of the relation of infestation by certain chiggers (Trombiculidae) and ticks, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, to host size and standard home ranges of host species taken together so far as possible in the same habitats. The hosts of the chiggers vary in size from house mice, Mus musculus, with a ventral surface of about 2.7 sq cm, and standard home range out-of-doors of 0.13 acre, to a New Guinea rat, Rattus ruber, with a ventral surface of about 146 sq cm, and standard home range of 3.6 acres. The hosts of the tick vary in size from that of the cottontail rabbit, Sylvilagus floridanus, with a ventral surface of about 319 sq cm to that of the snowshoe hare of about 443 sq cm. What frequently passess for "host preference" among certain parasites is suggested to be partly the result of: (1) a difference in amount of space available on the host for infestation, or exposure to infestation; (2) a difference in amount of area inhabited per individual, expressed as standard home range as defined by Hayne (1949) and Harrison (1958). There is a positive relationship between the size of host and its parasite load as well as between the size of a host''s home range and its parasite load. The remaining differences in infestation on the several hosts are, then, a measure of more purely biological factors such as difference in devotion of time to sub-habitats in a given habitat such as bushes or trees, unshaded areas as compared with shaded areas, or to physiologic condition, cleansing ability, intensity of activity, and observational error.
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