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Query: UMLS:C0038187 (starvation)
 24,951 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Four geographically distinct colonies of the human head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer (Anoplura: Pediculidae) were reared on a live host and exhibited significantly different life history patterns. Florida head lice exhibited approximately 10% slower development and approximately 15% reduced longevity relative to California or Ecuador head lice. Fecundity (4.9 +/- 0.2 eggs/female/d) and fertility (76.4 +/- 2.9% mean hatching rate) declined over the lifetime of female lice, especially when separated from males (i.e., unmated recently). All four colonies (above plus one from Panama) were similar in their ability to tolerate starvation, although older stages tended to die sooner. An in vitro feeding apparatus was developed to rear head lice. Teneral first instar lice were placed on human hair tufts on the upper side of membrane-covered feeders, which were immersed bottom-side down within a vessel containing warmed human blood. Relative to lice reared on a human host, in vitro-reared lice required a significantly longer time (10-20%) to molt and survived a significantly shorter time as adults (30-50%); the addition of antibiotics did not adversely affect louse development. Teneral first instars were more likely than any other stage to feed through the membrane. Lice spent a significantly greater proportion of time searching in the in vitro apparatus than on a host, but the proportion of time spent feeding did not differ. This research is the first to demonstrate that head lice can be reared successfully in vitro through a complete life cycle.
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PMID:In vivo and in vitro rearing of Pediculus humanus capitis (Anoplura: Pediculidae). 1459 75

Sexual selection is an influential agent of evolution, often shaping the sex ratio, sexual size dimorphism (SSD), and genital size in animals. To explore its effects in ectoparasites, we quantified SSD and male genital size in relation to intensity and sex ratio across subpopulations of Philopterus coarctatus, a philopterid louse of the great grey shrike. SSD was calculated separately for the width and length of the head and abdomen. Presuming that sexual selection affects the evolution of avian lice, we would expect that infestation intensities should covary with sex ratio, relative male size, and relative male genital size, either positively or negatively depending upon presumptions. Contrary to former studies, there was a weak negative relationship between infestation intensity and sex ratio. The relative width of male abdomens exhibited a highly significant negative interaction with the intensity of infestations. In contrast, sex ratio did not predict any of the dimorphism measures. Similarly, male genital size did not covary with the intensity of infestations or sex ratios. These findings may indicate that intensity covaries positively with levels of inbreeding in this species, suggesting that more-inbred subpopulations, wasting less energy for sexual rivalry, can multiply more intensively. Thus, small subpopulations have more frequent males which also possess larger abdomens. Alternatively, however, the same pattern may also arise due to male-biased starvation in overcrowded habitats; thus, males are rarer and have smaller abdomens in larger infrapopulations.
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PMID:Demographic correlates of sexual size dimorphism and male genital size in the lice Philopterus coarctatus. 1932 May 42

We studied the behavioural response of body lice and head lice to white light. We also evaluated the influence of starvation and the presence of other individuals on this response. Experiments were performed in a rectangular arena, half of which was illuminated and the other half kept in the dark. Two experiments were performed: in the first, a single louse was released into the arena for 60 min and the percentage of time spent in the illuminated half was recorded; in the second experiment, a group of lice was released and the number of insects in the illuminated half was recorded. The results showed that the average number of lice and time spent in the illuminated side of the arena was statistically higher than for the controls. Starvation did not influence the reaction of lice, but the number of insects in the illuminated area did increase with the size of the group. This study shows that human lice are photopositive towards white light and that this behaviour is not affected by the nutritional state of the insects. Moreover, it is enhanced by the presence of other lice.
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PMID:Human lice show photopositive behaviour to white light. 2180 91