Search results for "host finding"

Data from: Quality attracts parasites: host condition-dependent chemo-orientation of trematode larvae

2014

1. Environmental factors impairing physiological condition of organisms are assumed to predispose them to parasite infections. This is because host immune function is typically condition-dependent. However, poor physiological condition has been reported to reduce host susceptibility to parasites in various systems. 2. We examined whether such an effect can be due to altered exposure of hosts to active parasite transmission stages by investigating chemo-orientation of free-swimming cercariae larvae of a parasite Echinoparyphium aconiatum towards its snail host Lymnaea stagnalis. 3. We used both long-term and short-term feeding treatments to manipulate the body condition and physiological tra…