A survey of phthirapteran ectoparasites on the Grey Francolin, Francolinus Pondicerianus (Galliformes: phasianidae) in North-India.

ABSTRACT

As many as 144 brown francolin (Francolinus pondicerianus) were netted from 6 sites of Uttarakhand during the period from October, 2006 to September, 2008, to note the occurrence of phthirapteran species. Out of 144 birds, 45.83% were found to be infested with two species of lice i.e. Menacanthus kalatitar and Goniocotes jirufi, the former species occurring in 29.17% of birds (mean intensity 11.45 and sample mean abundance 3.34) whereas the later infesting only 25.69% of birds (mean intensity 8.22 and sample mean abundance 2.11). Significant positive correlation existed between mean monthly lice index and mean monthly temperature as well as photoperiod, while negative correlation was seen with respect to relative humidity and rainfall.