Oeciacus hirundinis from the nests of the swallows Delichon urbica and Hirundo rustica

Three virus strains were isolated from a total of 1356 Oeciacus hirundinis bugs collected in nests of Delichon urbica in Slovakia by inoculation of chick embryos into the amniotic and allantoic cavities. The strains agglutinated rooster and guinea pig erythrocytes and were identified as paramyxovirus type 4.

In the years 1976-1989 392 nests of D. urbica and 584 nests of H. rustica were collected from 54 localities in 6 Provinces in the north of Poland. The highest mean number of specimens per nest was observed in the nest of D. urbica (28.4) and the lowest in nest of H. rustica (4.2). The highest percentage of nests of the swallows with Oe. hirundinis was recorded in December and lowest in March. The highest mean number of Oe. hirundinis per nest was in the nest of D. urbica in August and lowest in February, and in the nest of H. rustica--in Septem...

The parasitic cimicid swallow bug, Oeciacus vicarius, is the principal invertebrate vector for Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) and has also been associated with Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. To help understand the spread of this vector, we experimentally measured the transmission of O. vicarius between groups (colonies) of its main host, the cliff swallow (Petrochelidonpyrrhonota), in the field. Transmission of bugs between colonies varied significantly with year, size of the colony, and week within the season. Bug immigration into sites tende...

Zaklad Zoologii WSP, Slupsk.

In May 1988, ten juvenile birds, not yet ready to fledge, jumped to their death from a colony of the purple martin, Progne subis near Okeechobee City, Florida. The martin house and nestlings were found to be infested with ectoparasitic Oeciacus vicarius Horvath, the cliff swallow bug, not previously reported from Florida. This ectoparasite infestation apparently led to early abandonment of two houses by the adult martins. Oeciacus vicarius therefore represents a possible threat to all hole-nesting birds.

Buggy Creek virus (family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, BCRV) is an alphavirus within the western equine encephalitis virus complex whose primary vector is the swallow bug, Oeciacus vicarius Horvath (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), an ectoparasite of the colonially nesting cliff swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, that is also a frequent host for the virus. We investigated ecological correlates of BCRV infection in 100-bug pools at 14 different swallow colony sites in southwestern Nebraska from summer 2004, by using plaque assay on Vero cells to identif...

Wolbachia symbionts are obligate intracellular bacteria that cause host reproductive alterations in many arthropods and filarial nematodes. We identified Wolbachia symbionts in the cliff swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarious Horvath) and the human bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing using Wolbachia-specific 16S rDNA and FtsZ primers. Phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony algorithms indicated, with strong support, that (1) Wolbac...

The cliff swallow bug Oeciacus vicarius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) in Florida: ectoparasite implications for hole-nesting birds. Loye J, Regan TW. Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis 95616. In May 1988, ten juvenile birds, not yet ready to fledge, jumped to their death from a colony of the purple martin, Progne subis near Okeechobee City, Florida. The martin house and nestlings were found to be infested with ectoparasitic Oeciacus vicarius Horvath, the cliff swallow bug, not previously reported from Florida. This ectoparasi...

Alphaviruses (Togaviridae) rarely have been found to be vertically transmitted from female arthropods to their progeny. We report two isolations of Buggy Creek virus (BCRV), an ecologically unusual alphavirus related to western equine encephalomyelitis virus, from field-collected eggs of cimicid swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarius Horvath), the principal vector for BCRV. Ten percent of egg pools were positive for BCRV, and we estimated minimum infection rates to be 1.03 infected eggs per 1,000 tested. The results show potential vertical transmissio...

Arboviruses have seldom been found overwintering in adult vectors at northern latitudes in North America. Buggy Creek virus (BCRV; Togaviridae, Alphavirus) is an ecologically unusual arbovirus vectored principally by the cimicid swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius Horvath). The ectoparasitic bugs reside year-round in the mud nests of their host, the cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota Vieillot). We report successful overwintering of infectious BCRV in bugs at a field site in western North Dakota, where mid-winter temperatures routinely reach -11...

The American swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius) is an important ectoparasite of cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and is known to harbor several types of arbovirus. A recent study in northeast Texas suggested that O. vicarius might occur in barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) at rates much higher than previously thought. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which barn swallows in northeast Texas are parasitized by O. vicarius and how well this parasite is adapting to this novel host. A sample of 498 nests at 54 colonies was...

A second virus with distinct biological, serological, and physiochemical properties was detected as a minority viral subpopulation in specimens of Cliff Swallow nest bugs (Oeciacus vicarius) and nestling bird sera containing Fort Morgan (FM) virus. The second virus, detected by a breakthrough neutralization test employing FM antiserum, was present in 5 of 11 FM virus-positive pools of nest bugs and in 4 of 38 birds from Colorado and South Dakota. The concentration of the second virus was 10-fold to 1,000-fold lower than that of FM virus. The se...