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diff --git a/36286-h/36286-h.htm b/36286-h/36286-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64c3726 --- /dev/null +++ b/36286-h/36286-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1833 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Natural History of the Prairie Vole (Mammalian Genus Microtus), by E. W. Jameson, Jr. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +.nfntit {font-weight: normal;} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + + p.title { text-align: center; text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; + line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 3em; } + + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} + +.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + +.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2.5em; + padding-left: 2.5em; text-indent: -2.5em;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Natural History of the Prairie Vole +(Mammalian Genus Microtus), by E. W. Jameson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Natural History of the Prairie Vole (Mammalian Genus Microtus) + [KU. Vol. 1 No. 7] + +Author: E. W. Jameson + +Editor: E. Raymond Hall + Donald S. Farner + H. H. Lane + Edward H. Taylor + +Release Date: May 30, 2011 [EBook #36286] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRAIRIE VOLE (MAMMALIAN GENUS MICROTUS) *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Diane Monico, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<h1> +NATURAL HISTORY OF THE<br /> +PRAIRIE VOLE<br /> + +<small>(Mammalian Genus <span class="nfntit">Microtus</span>)</small></h1> + +<p class="title">BY<br /><br /> + +E. W. JAMESON, Jr.<br /><br /><br /> + + +University of Kansas Publications<br /> +Museum of Natural History<br /><br /> + +<small>Volume 1, No. 7, pp. 125-151</small><br /> +<small>October 6, 1947</small><br /><br /><br /> + + +<small>UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS<br /> +LAWRENCE<br /> +1947</small> +</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<p class="center"> +<span class="smcap">University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History</span><br /> +<br /> +Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman; Donald S. Farner, H. H. Lane,<br /> +Edward H. Taylor<br /> +<br /> +Volume 1, No. 7, pp. 125-151<br /> +October 6, 1947<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">University of Kansas</span><br /> +Lawrence, Kansas<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<small>PRINTED BY<br /> +FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER<br /> +TOPEKA, KANSAS<br /> +1947<br /> +<br /> +21-6957<br /> +</small></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> +<h2> +<span class="smcap">Natural History of the Prairie Vole</span><br /> +(<span class="smcap">Mammalian Genus Microtus</span>)<br /> +<br /> +</h2> +<p class="title">By<br /> +E. W. JAMESON, JR. +</p> +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> + + + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="toc"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Introduction</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Methods</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Molt</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Food and Habitat</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Types of cover</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Cuttings</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Food caches</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Plants used as food and as cover</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Associates</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nest and Burrows</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">External Parasites</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Fleas (Siphonaptera)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Lice (Anoplura)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Mites (Acari except Ixodoidea)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Ticks (Ixodoidea)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Reproduction</td><td align="right"><a href="#REPRODUCTION">144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Age classes</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Age_Classes">144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Fecundity</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Fecundity">144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">Size of litters</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Size_of_Litters">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2">The breeding season</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#The_Breeding_Season">147</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Summary</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Literature Cited</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>The prairie vole (<i>Microtus ochrogaster</i>) at Lawrence, Kansas, is +approximately 5-1/2 inches in length, of which the tail comprises 1-1/4 +inches, and weighs approximately 1-1/2 ounces. The color on the +dorsum is dark gray with a grizzled appearance from the mixture of +black and fulvous on the long hairs; the venter is paler, sometimes +pale fulvous or cinnamon. The animal is compactly built much as +are the other microtine rodents. The short legs and short tail, small +eyes and partly hidden ears, and heavy and flattened head all suggest +its semifossorial mode of life. The prairie vole spends most +of its time in an elaborate system of tunnels (some entirely below +the ground) and in almost hidden galleries in the dense grass.</p> + +<p><i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> can be separated from other voles in its +geographic range by a combination of several characters. The plantar +tubercles usually number five, although a few individuals with six +tubercles were found at Lawrence, Kansas. <i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i>, +normally with six plantar tubercles, as Bole and Moulthrop (1942:156) +pointed out, sometimes has only five. Therefore, the number +of plantar tubercles alone is not a certain means for separating +<i>pennsylvanicus</i> from <i>ochrogaster</i>. The color of the venter of <i>ochrogaster</i> +is usually fulvous or cinnamon instead of grayish as in <i>pennsylvanicus</i>, +but there is variation in this respect too; some prairie +voles also have a grayish venter. The shorter tail of <i>ochrogaster</i> +will assist in establishing its identity where it occurs with <i>pennsylvanicus</i>. +The third upper molar has two closed triangles in <i>ochrogaster</i> +and usually three in <i>pennsylvanicus</i>. The pelage of <i>ochrogaster</i> +is coarse whereas <i>pennsylvanicus</i> has fine fur. Prairie voles +may be separated from pine mice (<i>Pitymys nemoralis</i> and <i>P. pinetorum</i>) +with which they are sometimes found, by the larger eyes, +less rusty color, and longer tail. The Cooper lemming mouse (<i>Synaptomys +cooperi</i>) differs from the prairie vole in having the upper +incisors grooved, and in possessing a shorter tail which approximates +the hind foot in length.</p> + +<p>Of <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> from Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, +average measurements of twenty-five adult males are: total length, +143 (121-167) mm.; tail, 32 (25-42) mm.; hind feet, 20 (17-22) +mm.; weight, 43 (38-55) grams. Twenty-five adult females from +the same place average: total length, 150 (131-170) mm.; tail, 33 +(31-41) mm.; hind foot, 19 (17-21) mm.; weight, 45 (38-58) grams.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>The prairie vole is found in suitable habitats in the central part of +North America. It has been recorded from Edmonton, Alberta, in +the northwest (Bailey, 1900:76), southeastward to Chesapeake, Ohio +(Bole and Moulthrop, <i>op. cit.</i>:156), and in the southwest as far as +Ft. Reno, Oklahoma (Bailey, <i>op. cit.</i>:74). See <a href="#Figure_1">figure 1</a> showing the +known range of <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i>. <i>Microtus ludovicianus</i>, a close +relative of <i>ochrogaster</i>, has been taken along the southern part of +the boundary between Texas and Louisiana (Lowery, 1943:247).</p> + +<p>The activities of voles, especially those of the genus <i>Microtus</i>, attracted +the attention of naturalists even in early times. Aristotle +(translated by Thompson, 1910) wrote: "The rate of propagation +of field mice in country places, and the destruction that they cause, +are all beyond telling. In many places their number is so incalculable +that but very little of the corn-crop is left to the farmer; and +so rapid is their mode of proceeding that sometimes a small farmer +will one day observe that it is time for reaping, and on the following +morning, when he takes his reapers afield, he finds his entire +crop devoured. Their disappearance is unaccountable: in a few +days not a mouse will be there to be seen."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 576px;"> +<a name="Figure_1" id="Figure_1"></a> +<img src="images/image001.png" width="576" height="600" alt="Figure 1. Range of the Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster)." title="Figure 1. Range of the Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster)." /> +<span class="caption">Figure 1. Range of the Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster).</span> +</div> + +<p>Several early naturalists in this country commented on the fluctuations +in numbers of individuals, and on the breeding and feeding +habits of voles. Kennicott (1857) in an agricultural report on the +mammals of Illinois wrote about the breeding of the prairie vole. +He described its stores of plants and commented on the behavior +of some captives. Quick and Butler (1885) discussed the habits of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +<i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> as well as those of <i>M. pennsylvanicus</i>, <i>Pitymys +pinetorum</i>, and <i>Synaptomys cooperi</i> in Indiana, and described the +feeding and breeding habits of these species. Criddle (1926) gave an +account of the feeding and breeding habits of <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> +in Manitoba, and Fisher (1945) published a short description of the +food and reproduction of the same species as he observed it in Missouri. +Stone investigated the fauna in the nests of this vole in the +same state, but has not yet, as of March, 1946, published his findings.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="METHODS" id="METHODS"></a>METHODS</h2> + + +<p>The information in the present account was obtained by observing +animals in the field, and by examining trapped animals that were +brought into the laboratory. Five hundred individuals were caught +in snap-traps, and forty additional voles that were marked were captured +a total of 157 times. More than 90 per cent of the specimens +were trapped at Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, but voles were +examined also in Ellsworth, Atchison, and Jefferson counties, Kansas, +and in Douglas County, Illinois. My data pertain to <i>Microtus +ochrogaster</i> in the above named areas from October, 1945, until +August, 1946. The findings may not be typical of this species in +other areas and in other years.</p> + +<p>The museum special traps were used both with and without bait. +The bait consisted of a piece of walnut meat on the treadle. By +placing the trap crosswise in the runway, voles were captured +whether or not the treadle was baited. Immediately upon removal +from the trap, each vole was placed in a white flannel sack, one sack +sufficing for several voles when necessary. In this way the loss of +ectoparasites was kept to a minimum. The fleas were counted, and +the numbers of lice and mites were estimated; some specimens of +ectoparasites were saved for identification.</p> + +<p>The voles taken in live traps were marked and released. The +marking was done by cutting off one or more toes in such a manner +that the vole could later be identified. From left to right, the toes +were assigned numbers from one to five on the left hind foot, and by +tens from ten to fifty on the right hind foot. Number 33, therefore, +was assigned to the one vole of which the middle toe of each hind +foot had been cut off. Each time an animal was captured alive, it +was weighed, specimens of fleas, lice and mites were preserved, and +the external appearance of the reproductive organs was noted. The +extent of the molt line, if the vole was molting, was recorded. Corresponding +data were kept for each dead vole caught in a snap trap.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>Assistance is acknowledged from Professors E. Raymond Hall, A. +Byron Leonard, Worthie H. Horr, and Donald F. Hoffmeister; and I +have had also much helpful advice from Professors W. J. Hamilton, +Jr., and P. C. Stone.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MOLT" id="MOLT"></a>MOLT</h2> + + +<p>The skins of 44 molting prairie voles were pinned out flat. The +flesh sides clearly show the areas of molt. Various stages in the molt +process were observed also in animals caught in live traps. The +molt begins when the animal is three or four weeks old; at this time +the juvenal pelage is replaced by the subadult pelage. The second +molt occurs when the prairie vole is between eight and twelve weeks +old, and is the means by which the adult pelage replaces the subadult +pelage. These same two molts were found by Hatfield (1935) +to occur in captive <i>Microtus californicus</i>. Molting voles of the +species ochrogaster were trapped in each month of the year.</p> + +<p>The molting processes of juveniles and subadults follow the same +pattern. The first area of molting is in the pectoral region. The +molt patch extends caudad toward the tail and cephalad toward the +chin. New pelage separates this area of active molt into two strips +on the fourth or fifth day. By this time each strip has spread laterad +to the legs and sides, and is 10 to 20 mm. wide. Ultimately each +strip unites with its opposite, usually at the center of the dorsum. +This area of molt then spreads cephalad and caudad. Fourteen to +fifteen days after the beginning of the molt, the entire dorsum is in +process of being covered with new pelage. Shortly before the completion +of the molt, the dorsal area of molt divides into two patches, +one on the rump and one on the nape. The areas last to be covered +with new pelage are the crown and that between the ears and the +eyes. A slight variation in the above process occurred in some +specimens in which the lateral strips joined immediately cephalad +of the tail instead of at the center of the dorsum. The entire process +takes approximately three weeks.</p> + +<p>Large voles (45 grams or more) grow hair in irregular patches +that measured 5 to 15 mm. In these large voles the molt is accomplished +slowly and does not cover large areas of the body at any one +time. The small areas of molt are visible for 7 to 10 days, and were +found on approximately three quarters of the large voles examined.</p> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FOOD_AND_HABITAT" id="FOOD_AND_HABITAT"></a>FOOD AND HABITAT</h2> + + +<p>The diet of the prairie vole reflects both its environment and its +choice of food. The plants eaten are usually green and succulent, +but some dry, hard seeds and small stems of woody plants are also +eaten. The vegetation, which supplies the food for the vole, is important +as cover or nesting material. For this reason food and +habitat are discussed together.</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">Types of Cover</span></h3> + +<p>Prairie voles inhabit areas where the dominant plants in summer +are clover or grasses or both. The lawn on the campus at the University +of Kansas consists mostly of several kinds of grasses, but in +some places alfalfa (<i>Medicago sativa</i>) replaces clover (<i>Trifolium</i> +sp.), and in other places sedges (<i>Scirpus</i> spp.) are found in addition +to the grasses. The grass is short; it is mowed to a length of 4 to 6 +inches. Bluegrass (<i>Poa pratensis</i>) and crabgrass (<i>Digitaria ischaemum</i>) +form most of the sod. Bluejoint (<i>Andropogon furcatus</i>) is +common in a sparsely wooded part of the campus, an area which has +many voles. Foxtail (<i>Setaria lutescens</i> and <i>S. viridis</i>) and prairie +threeawn (<i>Aristida oligantha</i>) are also common on the lawn, but +these become dry in late summer, and at that time supply neither +food nor cover for the voles. The voles make well-beaten depressions +in the sod, and the grass arches over them to form canopies.</p> + +<p>In the winter, when the snow flattened the grass on the campus +so that there were no longer protective canopies of blades over the +runways of the voles, they migrated into areas of Japanese honeysuckle +(<i>Lonicera japonica</i>). At this season the honeysuckle was +their main food. In areas where this vine was not available, the +voles abandoned their surface runways and remained below the +ground, coming to the surface only under the protection of a blanket +of snow. The voles returned to the grass and clover habitat in +March and April in 1946.</p> + +<p>One pure stand of Ladino clover in Jefferson County, Kansas, was +studied in late November and early December of 1945. The clover +was 2 to 4 inches high, and although it was the sole food of the +voles, it furnishes but little cover. They were common here; 300 +traps yielded 111 voles in two nights.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Cuttings</span></h3> + +<p>The voles seek particularly the tender heads of grasses and the +terminal leaves of sweet clover (<i>Melilotus alba</i>). To obtain these +parts, the voles begin by cutting through the base of the plant. The +surrounding plants are often near enough to support the freshly cut +piece in an upright position. The vole makes successive cuttings, +40 or 50 millimeters from the ground, until the desired parts of the +plant are within reach. The cuttings that have accumulated at the +base of the plant may be eaten, but frequently they remain as evidence +of the vole's feeding activity.</p> + +<p>On May 12, 1946, an analysis was made of the cuttings found in +an area of alfalfa, grasses, and weeds. From <a href="#Table_1">table 1</a> it may be seen +that quackgrass, alfalfa, wild lettuce, and cleavers were common. +In three nights 70 traps caught 8 prairie voles and 3 deer mice; no +pine mice or cotton rats were caught on the area. The stomachs of +the voles and the deer mice were examined, and only the stomachs +of the voles contained green material. Analysis of the cuttings (see +<a href="#Table_2">table 2</a>) indicates that alfalfa was eaten in greater quantity than +any other plant; it made up almost three quarters of the cuttings although +but one quarter of the cover. All other plants occurred less +commonly in the piles of cuttings than they did in the estimated +composition of the cover. Grasses and wild lettuce were next to +alfalfa in importance.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_1" id="Table_1"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table</span> 1.—<i>The Relative Abundance of Plants in an Area of Alfalfa, Grasses, +and Weeds</i></b><a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="table1"> +<tr><th colspan="1">Species</th><th colspan="1">Percentage by number<br />of plants</th></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quackgrass (<i>Agropyron repens</i>)</td><td align="center">30</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Speargrass (<i>Poa annua</i>)</td><td align="center">01</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">California brome (<i>Bromus carinatus</i>)</td><td align="center">01</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Smooth brome (<i>Bromus inermis</i>)</td><td align="center">01</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Alfalfa (<i>Medicago sativa</i>)</td><td align="center">25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peppergrass (<i>Lepidium densiflorum</i>)</td><td align="center">02</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cleavers (<i>Galium aparine</i>)</td><td align="center">15</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wild lettuce (<i>Lactuca scariola</i>)</td><td align="center">25</td></tr> +</table></div><hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_2" id="Table_2"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table</span> 2.—<i>Composition of Ten Piles of Cuttings</i></b><a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" summary="table2"> +<tr><th colspan="1">Species</th><th colspan="10">Ten piles of cuttings</th><th colspan="1">Frequency of<br />occurrence</th></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Agropyron repens</i></td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="center">13</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Poa annua</i></td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Bromus carinatus</i></td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">04</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Bromus inermis</i></td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Medicago sativa</i></td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">31</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="center">73</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Lepidium densiflorum</i></td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Galium aparine</i></td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">01</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Lactuca scariola</i></td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="center">09</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Analysis made on May 12, 1946, on an area 20 × 80 yards, at Lawrence, Kansas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Each of the first ten vertical columns gives the composition of one pile of cuttings. The +last column gives the percentage of occurrence in the piles of cuttings of each species of plant +in the area. Place and date for data in table 2 same as for table 1.</p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> +<p>Approximately one out of every ten voles caught in snap traps had +a piece of plant in its mouth. Occasionally a vole took a piece of +food into a live trap. Evidently the food is not always eaten where +it is procured. Grasses of the genus <i>Poa</i> are the kinds most frequently +found in the mouths of dead voles. <i>Bromus carinatus</i>, <i>B. +inermis</i> and sweet clover (<i>Melilotus alba</i>) were found in the runways. +The pulpy fruit of the horse nettle (<i>Solanum carolinense</i>) was found +partly eaten, especially near the entrances to underground passages.</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">Food Caches</span></h3> + +<p>Caches of seeds and underground parts of plants are stored in subterranean +chambers. One lot of food was found stored on the surface +of the ground. Four times, piles of seeds in runways indicated the +species of plants which the voles were storing.</p> + +<p>One underground cache was found on May 27, 1946, on the University +campus, by John Evans, Richard Edgar, and the writer. +This cache was in a large chamber in a tunnel system of the prairie +vole, on an east-facing hillside of walnut trees, catalpas, and Kentucky +coffee trees. The oval chamber was 250 mm. wide, 400 mm. +long, and 200 mm. high. The roof, at its highest point, was 30 mm. +below the surface of the ground. There were two entrances to the +cavity, both on the downhill side. The cache consisted of eight +quarts of seeds (approximately 2,800) of the Kentucky coffee tree +(<i>Gymnocladus dioica</i>). The seeds were packed with earth and all +were well preserved. The site of this cache was in an area which +was shaded by a small coffee tree. A seed of this tree is spheroidal, +measures 17 mm. in width, and weighs 2 grams.</p> + +<p>Several times in the fall of 1945, in the above-mentioned grove, +the writer found pods of the coffee tree lying in the runs of the +voles. These pods were sometimes entire, but more often they had +been gnawed; frequently only part of a pod remained, indicating +that the voles were storing or feeding upon the seeds, although the +possibility that the mice were storing food did not occur to the writer +at the time. Three times, seeds of other plants were found piled at +the entrances of the burrows of voles. Twice these piles consisted +of from 50 to 70 seeds of the common dandelion (<i>Taraxacum +officinale</i>). The third pile was composed of 20 seeds of the giant +ragweed (<i>Ambrosia trifida</i>).</p> + +<p>A pasture of Canadian bluegrass (<i>Poa compressa</i>), wild millet +(<i>Echinochloa crusgalli</i>), sedges (<i>Scirpus</i> spp.), and clover (<i>Trifolium</i> +sp.) in Atchison County, Kansas, was examined in November,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +1945. This area was the home of a dense population of prairie +voles. Wherever a path of the voles crossed a deep imprint of a +horse's hoof, there was a collection of cuttings from the horizontal +stems of the clover which bordered the runways. Some of the cuttings +may have been made by lemming mice (<i>Synaptomys cooperi</i>) +which were also common in the area.</p> + +<p>Several kinds of voles store food. Bailey (1920) wrote of the +caches of <i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i> in North Dakota, where, in one +locality, this vole was known as the bean mouse. He stated that the +Indians dug up beans (<i>Falcata comosa</i>) and the tubers of the +Jerusalem artichoke (<i>Helianthus tuberosus</i>) which the voles had +stored. Lantz (1907:17) found a cache of the roots of wild morning +glory (<i>Convolvulus sepium</i>) laid away by <i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i>. +Nelson (1893:140) wrote that, as winter approached, +<i>Microtus operarius</i> gathered small bulbous roots, sometimes storing +a peck or more in a single cavity. Fisher (1945) in Missouri found +a gallon of the fruits of the horse nettle (<i>Solanum carolinense</i>) +stored in a hollow stump by the prairie vole. Kennicott (1857:99) +found five or six quarts of roots of two species of spike-flower +(<i>Liatrus</i>), <i>Helianthus</i>, and various grasses among the winter provisions +of the prairie vole in Illinois.</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">Plants Used as Food and as Cover</span></h3> + +<p><a href="#Table_3">Table 3</a> lists, according to their families, the species of plants +which the prairie vole was observed to use for food. The same +species are sometimes used as cover. The majority of the plants are +in three families: the grass family (Graminae), the pulse family +(Leguminosae), and the composite family (Compositae).</p> + +<p>The grasses that supply the voles' food and cover are mostly <i>Poa</i> +(the bluegrasses) and <i>Bromus</i> (bromegrass, chess, or cheat). <i>Poa +pratensis</i> is a common lawn and pasture grass, <i>P. annua</i> is a weed +species. The bluegrasses begin to grow in late winter about Lawrence, +Kansas, and they remain green until late in the fall. During +this time, the voles eat the blades and heads of bluegrass, and make +their runways under the culms. The prairie voles utilize several +species of <i>Bromus</i>. <i>Bromus inermis</i> and <i>B. carinatus</i> are important +range and pasture grasses, but <i>japonicus</i> is a weed of little or no +economic value. These are soft, tender grasses, but, in contrast to +the bluegrasses, they become dry in midsummer, and are then unsuitable +as food. However, they continue to form a protection over +the runways of the voles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>The legumes, which appeared to be most important to the prairie +vole, are clover (<i>Trifolium</i> spp. and <i>Melilotus alba</i>) and alfalfa +(<i>Medicago sativa</i>). These plants are common in both cultivated and +feral states. They form a different type of cover from that made +by grasses. Voles, living in clover and alfalfa, do not make runways +as distinct as they do in grasslands. The clover and alfalfa +plants are branched and of a spreading growth form, whereas the +grasses have leaves which are appressed to the main stem. The individual +grass plants grow close together, and a vole cannot run +through grass without trampling some of it. As voles use the same +paths repeatedly, the grass in their runs becomes flattened and dies. +There is sufficient room between the stems of the clover and alfalfa +plants to allow the voles to pass through without treading on the +stems. In such a habitat, vole runways are poorly developed, and +are difficult to find. Voles in grasslands feed in runways, as attested +by the piles of cuttings found in the runways and the nibbled +grass which borders them. Voles in clover or alfalfa feed at the +bases of the plants wherever the plants may grow. In the latter +type of cover the cuttings are rather evenly distributed.</p> + +<p>Compositae formed a minor part of the cover in most of the habitats +studied. Many grasslands have a stand of dandelions; sow +thistle, wild lettuce, and ragweed were also common in some grasslands. +The voles ate the leaves and sometimes the seeds and underground +parts of these plants.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_3" id="Table_3"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table 3.</span> <i>Plants Used for Food by the Prairie Vole</i></b></p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="table3"> +<tr><td align="left">Graminae</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Poa annua</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>P. compressa</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>P. pratensis</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Bromus inermis</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>B. carinatus</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>B. japonicus</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Andropogon furcatus</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Agropyron repens</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Setaria lutescens</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>S. viridis</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Leguminosae</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Melilotus alba</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Medicago sativa</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Trifolium</i> spp.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Gymnocladus dioica</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Solanaceae</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Solanum carolinense</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Boraginaceae</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Galium aparine</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Caprifoliaceae</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Lonicera japonica</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Compositae</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Lactuca scariola</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Sonchus arvensis</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Ambrosia trifida</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>A. artemisiifolia</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="i2"><i>Taraxacum officinale</i></span></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ASSOCIATES" id="ASSOCIATES"></a>ASSOCIATES</h2> + + +<p>In the mixed areas of grassland and clover that were described +above, the cotton rat (<i>Sigmodon hispidus</i>), the deer mouse (<i>Peromyscus +maniculatus</i>), and the little short-tailed shrew (<i>Cryptotis +parva</i>) were commonly caught in the runways of the prairie vole. +Less frequently trapped were the common mole (<i>Scalopus aquaticus</i>), +the large short-tailed shrew (<i>Blarina brevicauda</i>), the Cooper +lemming mouse (<i>Synaptomys cooperi</i>), the pine mouse (<i>Pitymys +nemoralis</i>), and the harvest mouse (<i>Reithrodontomys megalotis</i>). +In the dense growth of Japanese honeysuckle, the prairie vole shared +runways with the white-footed mouse (<i>Peromyscus leucopus</i>), the +large short-tailed shrew, and the pine mouse.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NEST_AND_BURROWS" id="NEST_AND_BURROWS"></a>NEST AND BURROWS</h2> + + +<p>The prairie vole makes a tortuous network of paths through the +grass and honeycombs the topsoil with its tunnels. The underground +passages lead to nests or to chambers where food is sometimes stored. +The runways through the grass are 40 to 50 mm. wide, and usually +lie slightly below the surface of the ground. By using the same +path repeatedly, the voles create little ruts in which they run. The +bottom of the runways are bare soil or are covered with only a thin +layer of trampled grass. Cotton rats, on the other hand, apparently +do not use their runs over long periods, for they are not well-beaten +runways, but are made merely by parting the grass and not by +trampling it down or cutting it off. Voles were trapped in runways +of the cotton rats, but no cotton rat was caught in a typical runway +of a vole.</p> + +<p>The burrows of the prairie vole are 40 to 50 mm. in diameter, and +the shallowest part is usually 50 to 100 mm. below the surface of the +ground. Burrows leading to nests or food chambers may descend +deeper than the others. Some prairie voles were trapped in tunnels +of the common mole (<i>Scalopus aquaticus</i>). The voles make their +own burrows, and are especially active at this task when a hard rain +has loosened the previously hard, dry soil. The rain in the first two +weeks of October, 1945, made the soil much more friable than it had +been at the beginning of the month, and the voles took advantage of +the favorable opportunity to construct many new burrows. In October, +particles of soil were packed beneath the toenails of many +specimens.</p> + +<p>In this time fifteen nests were found. They were 6 to 18 inches +below the surface of the ground, and two tunnels led from each nest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +to the surface runway. The nest cavities were spheroidal, and +measured 150 to 200 mm. horizontally, and 80 to 100 mm. vertically. +The floors were slightly concave and were covered with loose dirt +and a mixture of dried grass and one or two leaves. The remainder +of the cavity was filled with the dry grass of which the nest was +composed. Criddle (1926) stated that at Treesbank, Manitoba, this +vole makes its nests in the burrow systems of the pocket gopher +(<i>Thomomys talpoides</i>); and Kennicott (1857:98) found nests of +the prairie vole in old ant hills.</p> + +<p>Each of two nests that had been recently occupied was placed in a +Berlese funnel, and in this way the arthropod fauna of the nests +was collected. The most common arthropods in the nests were mites +(parasitic, predaceous, and free-living) and springtails. Sowbugs, +centipedes, spiders, and fleas were also present. Of these arthropods, +the laelaptid mites, one kind of tick, and one kind of flea have a +direct relationship with the vole. These parasites are the same +species which are found on the vole itself. The mites were <i>Eulaelaps +stabularis</i> (Koch) and <i>Atricholaelaps glasgowi</i> (Ewing). One adult +tick, <i>Ixodes sculptus</i> Newman, was in one nest. The fleas, about a +dozen in each nest, were <i>Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes</i> Baker, the +flea most frequently found on the prairie vole.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="EXTERNAL_PARASITES" id="EXTERNAL_PARASITES"></a>EXTERNAL PARASITES</h2> + + +<p>The pelage of prairie voles, pine mice, deer mice, and shrews forms +a habitat for many kinds of parasitic arthropods. The fleas, lice, +and mites from the prairie vole were collected, counted, and identified. +The ectoparasites from the other small mammals living in the +same habitat as the prairie vole were also considered. Some ectoparasites +begin to leave the host when it dies, and any counts of +ectoparasites made from snap-trapped voles may fall short of the +number which was on the animal when it was alive. The average +number of fleas recorded from live voles exceeds that found on snap-trapped +voles (see <a href="#Table_4">table 4</a>). The numbers of lice and mites were +estimated, but selected voles were examined to obtain absolute numbers +of these kinds of ectoparasites.</p> + +<p>The fleas, lice, and mites were mounted on one inch by three inch +glass slides; the ticks were preserved in 70 per cent alcohol. Dr. E. +W. Baker identified the mites; Dr. R. A. Cooley and Dr. Glen M. +Kohls, the ticks; Dr. G. W. Wharton, the chiggers; and Dr. Gordon +F. Ferris, the lice. To each of these gentlemen I am grateful. The +fleas were identified by myself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Fleas (Siphonaptera)</span></h3> + +<p>The information on the average numbers of fleas on voles was obtained +from live-trapped and some snap-trapped voles. Fleas were +counted only on voles which were removed from the traps within +twenty-four hours after the traps had been last examined. The +average numbers of fleas found on prairie voles in this study are +given in table 4.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_4" id="Table_4"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table 4.</span> <i>Average Numbers of Fleas on Prairie Voles</i></b><a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" summary="table4"> +<tr><th colspan="1"> </th><th colspan="1">Subadults</th><th colspan="1">Adults</th></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Live-trapped voles</td><td align="center">1.9 (73)</td><td align="center">3.4 (29)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Snap-trapped voles</td><td align="center">1.1 (26)</td><td align="center">1.3 (27)</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> The fleas on the live-trapped voles are all <i>Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes</i> Baker, and +those on snap-trapped voles represent several species (see <a href="#Table_2">table 2</a>). The numbers in parentheses +are the numbers of voles examined.</p></div> + +<p><a href="#Table_5">Table 5</a> shows the average degree of infestation for ten months of +an eleven month period. The monthly averages for the most part +show no variations. The latter half of February provides an exception +in that a series of 22 snap-trapped voles and 11 live-trapped +voles taken at that time had on the average, 9.7 and 5.3 fleas respectively. +Pine mice (<i>Pitymys nemoralis</i>) occurred in small numbers +in the area where <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> was live-trapped, and +<i>Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes</i> was the flea found to be common on +both of these voles.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_5" id="Table_5"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table 5.</span>—<i>Monthly Averages of Fleas on Prairie Voles</i></b></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" summary="table5"> +<tr><th colspan="1">Jan.</th><th colspan="1">Feb.</th><th colspan="1">Mar.</th><th colspan="1">Apr.</th><th colspan="1">May</th><th colspan="1">June</th><th colspan="1">July</th><th colspan="1">Aug.</th><th colspan="1">Sept.</th><th colspan="1">Oct.</th><th colspan="1">Nov.</th><th colspan="1">Dec.</th></tr> +<tr><td align="center"> .6</td><td align="center">5.1</td><td align="center">5<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">3</td><td align="center">1.8</td><td align="center">1.4</td><td align="center">1.7</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">1.1</td><td align="center">2</td><td align="center">2</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"> (6)</td><td align="center">(11)</td><td align="center">(6)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">(6)</td><td align="center">(88)</td><td align="center">(26)</td><td align="center">(6)</td><td align="center">...</td><td align="center">(8)</td><td align="center">(14)</td><td align="center">(2)</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> This figure is high because one vole had the high number of 19 fleas. The numbers in +parentheses show the number of live voles examined for each month. All fleas were <i>Ctenophthalmus +pseudagyrtes</i> Baker.</p></div> + +<p>Some fleas have a habitat preference as well as a host specificity. +As voles from different areas were examined, different kinds of fleas +were encountered. A population of free-living voles under observation +on the Campus at Lawrence was parasitized only by <i>Ctenophthalmus +pseudagyrtes</i>. From 90 prairie voles collected in a field +of clover 4 miles northwest of Lawrence, the only species of flea +recovered was <i>Orchopeas leucopus</i>. In both places the prairie vole +was the most common mammal, but in the field of clover three deer +mice (<i>P. maniculatus</i>) also were trapped. In a third field, one mile +west of Lawrence, the prairie vole was host to both the above mentioned +fleas. Here both the prairie vole and the cotton rat (<i>Sigmodon +hispidus</i>) were common.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>The host distribution of fleas on seven small mammals which lived +in the same habitats as the prairie vole is given in table 6.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_6" id="Table_6"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table 6.</span>—<i>Frequency of Occurrence of Fleas on Seven Species of Small Mammals</i></b><a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p> + +<p class="i4"> +Column headings:<br /> +<br /> +A: <i>Cryptotis parva</i><br /> +B: <i>Blarina brevicauda</i><br /> +C: <i>Peromyscus maniculatus</i><br /> +D: <i>Peromyscus leucopus</i><br /> +E: <i>Sigmodon hispidus</i><br /> +F: <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i><br /> +G: <i>Pitymys nemoralis</i><br /> +<br /></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="table6"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"><b>A</b></td><td align="right"><b>B</b></td><td align="right"><b>C</b></td><td align="right"><b>D</b></td><td align="right"><b>E</b></td><td align="right"><b>F</b></td><td align="right"><b>G</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Orchopeas leucopus</i> (Baker)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">53</td><td align="right">31</td><td align="right">37</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">10</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Orchopeas howardii</i> (Baker) =</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><i>O. wickhami</i> (Baker)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Nosopsyllus fasciatus</i> (Bosc)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Epitedia wenmanni</i> (Rothschild)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Rectofrontia fraterna</i> (Baker)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Corrodopsylla hamiltoni</i> (Traub)</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes</i> Baker</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">53</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Peromyscopsylla scotti</i> I. Fox</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><th colspan="7">——————————————</th></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Total number examined</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">35</td><td align="right">57</td><td align="right">414</td><td align="right">21</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> The numbers represent the percentage of each species which was parasitized by fleas. The +mammals were collected at Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, between October, 1945, and +June, 1946. These data are entirely from snap-trapped animals with the exception of those +from <i>Microtus</i> and <i>Pitymys</i> which are from both snap-trapped and live-trapped animals.</p></div> + +<p>It is seen that some fleas are rather specific in their choice of hosts, +and that others are commonly found on two or more small mammals +in the same habitat. In each of these groups there are fleas which +have a habitat preference, that is to say, the flea lives on the host +when the host lives in a given habitat, but is absent when the host +lives in another habitat.</p> + + +<h4><span class="smcap">Group 1: Fleas with a Host Preference</span></h4> + +<p><i>Epitedia wenmanni</i> was found on the white-footed mouse (<i>Peromyscus +leucopus</i>) and only rarely on the prairie vole. <i>Corrodopsylla +hamiltoni</i> was taken only from the two kinds of shrews +(<i>Blarina brevicauda</i> and <i>Cryptotis parva</i>). Fleas on shrews may +have a well-developed host preference. At any rate, Elton, Baker, +Ford, and Gardner (1931) found that <i>Doratopsylla dasycnemus</i> +rarely strayed from its normal host (<i>Sorex araneus</i>) to other small +mammals. <i>Peromyscopsylla scotti</i> was taken from the white-footed +mouse (<i>Peromyscus leucopus</i>), and had a habitat preference also. +It was found only on those white-footed mice which were trapped in +the woodlands at various places in Douglas County; white-footed +mice which were trapped in areas of brush were free of this parasite.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Group 2: Fleas Commonly Found on Two or More Kinds of +Small Mammals</span></h4> + +<p><i>Orchopeas leucopus</i> was an outstanding example of this group. It +was the most common flea on the deer mouse, the white-footed +mouse, and the cotton rat. In certain areas it was common on the +two voles (<i>Pitymys nemoralis</i> and <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i>). <i>Ctenophthalmus +pseudagyrtes</i> is the most abundant flea on the two kinds +of voles and on the large shrew (<i>Blarina brevicauda</i>), and was found +sparingly on the cotton rat.</p> + +<p>Several kinds of fleas do not belong in either of the above groups. +Some fleas were accidental strays from mammals not included in +<a href="#Table_6">table 6</a>; and one flea (<i>Rectofrontia fraterna</i>) may prove to be a common +nest parasite. <i>Orchopeas howardii</i> is common on tree squirrels +(<i>Sciurus niger</i> and <i>S. carolinensis</i>). <i>Nosopsyllus fasciatus</i> is a cosmopolitan +flea on <i>Rattus norvegicus</i>. <i>Rectofrontia fraterna</i> was +taken once from a prairie vole. Since the only specimens in the University +of Kansas Entomological Collections are from "mouse nests," +this flea may be found to be a nest inhabiting parasite.</p> + +<p>Some fleas are possible bridges by which a blood parasite could be +transmitted from one kind of a mammal to another. If <i>Ctenophthalmus +pseudagyrtes</i> acted as the intermediate host of a disease-causing +organism, an epizootic from <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> might be +transmitted to <i>Pitymys nemoralis</i> or to <i>Sigmodon hispidus</i> or <i>Blarina +brevicauda</i>. There are several other such potential bridges for blood +parasites. Although <a href="#Table_6">table 6</a> does not prove that individual fleas +wander from one host to another, the frequency with which the several +kinds of fleas are removed from live mice suggests that the fleas +occasionally do so.</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">Lice (Anoplura)</span></h3> + +<p>Lice collected from the prairie vole were all of one species, <i>Hoplopleura +acanthopus</i> (Burmeister). Of 59 voles examined for the +presence of lice, 33 were found to be parasitized; the 59 voles had +an average of 3.4 lice each. Other mice which used the same runways +as the prairie vole had their own species of Anoplura. The +cotton rat was host to <i>Hoplopleura hirsuta</i> Ferris, and the two +species of <i>Peromyscus</i> were parasitized by <i>Hoplopleura hesperomydis</i> +(Osborn).</p> + +<p>The writer collected <i>Hoplopleura acanthopus</i> from <i>Microtus californicus</i> +at Calaveras Dam, Alameda County, California, and from +<i>M. pennsylvanicus</i> at Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York. Elton,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +Ford, Baker, and Gardner (1931) recorded this same species from +<i>M. argestis</i> in England.</p> + +<p>Lice on the prairie vole are the same species as those found on +other species of <i>Microtus</i> in other areas, but since Anoplura of the +prairie vole do not parasitize the cotton rat, the white-footed mouse, +and the deer mouse, this host specificity of lice makes it unlikely +that lice would carry blood parasites from the prairie vole to any +of the latter named rodents.</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">Mites (Acarina except Ixodoidea)</span></h3> + +<p>Many of the small mammals examined in this study had mites, +some of which were collected and identified. Mites were collected +from other species of voles in several localities in the United States +and in one locality in Canada; as voles in widely separated regions +are sometimes hosts to the same species of mites, these records will +be presented here.</p> + +<p>The frequency of some kinds of mites in the identified material +suggests that they are more abundant than other kinds. The occurrence +of mites on small mammals from Lawrence, Kansas, is presented +in <a href="#Table_7">table 7</a>.</p> + +<p>The following comments can be made concerning the specificity +and geographic ranges of several species of mites:</p> + +<p><i>Liponyssus occidentalis</i> Ewing was found only on <i>Cryptotis parva</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Eulaelaps stabularis</i> (Koch) was one of the more common kinds +found on the prairie vole. This mite is rather large (about 1 mm. +long) and is frequently (with the following species) seen running +through the pelage of its host. In addition to the records for this +species in <a href="#Table_1">table 1</a>, it was found to be a common parasite on <i>Pitymys +pinetorum</i> at Point Abino, Welland County, Ontario. Elton, Ford, +Baker and Gardner (1931) found this same mite on <i>Apodemus +sylvaticus</i> and <i>Clethrionomys glareolus</i> in England.</p> + +<p><i>Atricholaelaps glasgowi</i>, like the preceding species, was one of the +commoner mites on the prairie vole. It was found also on <i>Pitymys +pinetorum</i> at Point Abino, Welland County, Ontario; on <i>Microtus +pennsylvanicus</i> at Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York; and on +<i>M. californicus</i> at Calaveras Dam, Alameda County, California.</p> + +<p><i>Atricholaelaps sigmodoni</i> occurred only on the cotton rat.</p> + +<p><i>Laelaps kochi</i> was less commonly found than <i>Eulaelaps stabularis</i> +and <i>Atricholaelaps glasgowi</i>. In Kansas the prairie vole and +the cotton rat were hosts to <i>Laelaps kochi</i>, and it occurred on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +<i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i> at Ithaca, New York, and on <i>M. californicus</i> +at Berkeley, California.</p> + +<p>Trombiculidae are commonly known by their larvae which are +called chiggers or harvest mites. The white-footed mouse, the cotton +rat, and the prairie vole were parasitized at Lawrence. In the +winter these mites live in the ears of these small mammals, but in the +summer they were found both in the ears and on the rump. Those +obtained in winter were <i>Ascoschöngastia brevipes</i> (Ewing); other +species may be involved.</p> + +<p>Listrophoridae was represented on the prairie vole by a species of +<i>Myocoptes</i> and a species of <i>Listrophorus</i>. These mites cling to the +hairs of their host, and do not occur on the skin of the voles.</p> + +<p>No evidence was seen that mites had any ill effect on the health of +their hosts. No voles had scabs on the skin; and the ears were not +swollen and disfigured as they sometimes are by chiggers. Although +the identity of a specimen of mite could not be determined +until it was mounted, a person could tell whether or not it was one +of the larger, very active Laelaptidae, one of the hair-clinging +Listrophoridae, or one of the tiny, orange Trombiculidae.</p> + +<p>On July 12, 1946, three prairie voles were examined to determine +the number of mites they supported. The voles were freshly caught, +no one of them having been dead for more than five minutes before +they were examined. These three voles had an average of 25 +Laelaptidae, 22 Listrophoridae, and 53 Trombiculidae.</p> + +<p>Six species of mites (Ixodoidea excepted) were found on the +prairie vole. Four of these were collected also from other small +mammals living in the same habitat as this vole. Two species of +mites were found to occur on voles in New York, Kansas, and California.</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">Ticks (Ixodoidea)</span></h3> + +<p>Two kinds of ticks were found. One adult specimen of <i>Ixodes +sculptus</i> Neumann was clinging to the head of a vole, just in front +of its eye. This species of tick was taken also from the thirteen-lined +ground squirrel (<i>Citellus tridecimlineatus</i>) at Lawrence. One +nymph of <i>Dermacentor variabilis</i> (Say) was found attached to the +scapular region of a prairie vole. Both of these specimens were +taken in June.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_7" id="Table_7"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table 7.</span> <i>Host Distribution of Mites on Seven Small Mammals</i></b><a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></p> + +<p class="i4"> +Column headings:<br /> +<br /> +A: <i>Scalopus aquaticus</i><br /> +B: <i>Cryptotis parva</i><br /> +C: <i>Blarina brevicauda</i><br /> +D: <i>Peromyscus maniculatus</i><br /> +E: <i>Peromyscus leucopus</i><br /> +F: <i>Sigmodon hispidus</i><br /> +G: <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i><br /> +</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" summary="table7"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"><b>A</b></td><td align="right"><b>B</b></td><td align="right"><b>C</b></td><td align="right"><b>D</b></td><td align="right"><b>E</b></td><td align="right"><b>F</b></td><td align="right"><b>G</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Ascoschöngastia brevipes</i> (Ewing)</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">X</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Liponyssus occidentalis</i> Ewing</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Eulaelaps stabularis</i> (Koch)</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Atricholaelaps glasgowi</i> (Ewing)</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Atricholaelaps sigmodoni</i> Strandtmann</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">..</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Laelaps kochi</i> Oudemans</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td><td align="center">X</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Myocoptes</i> sp.</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Listrophorus</i> sp.</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">X</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> These data are from material collected at Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="REPRODUCTION" id="REPRODUCTION"></a>REPRODUCTION</h2> + + +<h3><a name="Age_Classes" id="Age_Classes"></a><span class="smcap">Age Classes</span></h3> + +<p>Each prairie vole was assigned to one of three age classes (juvenile, +subadult, or adult) principally on the basis of weight, but partly on +the quality and color of the pelage. The three age classes are characterized +in table 8.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_8" id="Table_8"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table 8.</span> <i>Characters of Juvenile, Subadult, and Adult Prairie Voles</i></b></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" summary="table8"> +<tr><th colspan="1">Juvenile</th><th colspan="1">Subadult</th><th colspan="1">Adult</th></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Less than 21 grams</td><td align="left">21-38 grams</td><td align="left">38 grams or more</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Weight usually less than 20 grams</td><td align="left">Average weight 30-32 grams</td><td align="left">Average weight 40-45 grams</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Entire pelage dull</td><td align="left">Pelage of rump dull; rest of pelage glossy</td><td align="left">Pelage usually entirely glossy (rump sometimes dull)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dorsal color black</td><td align="left">Dorsal color grizzled except on rump</td><td align="left">Entire dorsal color grizzled except sometimes on rump</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h3><a name="Fecundity" id="Fecundity"></a><span class="smcap">Fecundity</span></h3> + +<p>Hamilton (1941:4) found for <i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i> that macroscopic +tubules of the cauda epididymis were an indication of +fecundity. By noting the size of the tubules (whether macroscopic +or not) and by making smears from them in approximately every +25th male caught, I found that the presence of sperm was positively +correlated with large-sized tubules of the cauda epididymis in <i>Microtus +ochrogaster</i>. Inferentially, males with sperm were fecund.</p> + +<p>There is a relationship almost positive between the size of the +tubules of the cauda epididymis and the length of the testes. Testes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +longer than 7 mm. have macroscopic tubules in the cauda, and in +testes shorter than 7 mm. these tubules cannot be seen with the +naked eye, Hamilton (1937b) found that in <i>M. pennsylvanicus</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +testes smaller than 8 × 4 mm. did not contain sperm. The testes of +the prairie vole descend into the scrotum in the breeding season. In +the two winter months, when the voles did not bring forth young, the +testes decreased in size (see <a href="#Figure_3">figure 3</a>) and were withdrawn into the +body cavity. The presence of the testes in the body cavity does +not mean that a vole is not in breeding condition, for many specimens +with abdominal testes were fecund.</p> + +<p>The females were considered to be fecund if they were gravid, or +if there were placental scars in the horns of the uteri.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<a name="Figure_2" id="Figure_2"></a> +<img src="images/image002.png" width="800" height="559" alt="Figure 2. Fecundity of Prairie Voles by Months. Adults and Subadults are +Considered Together." title="Figure 2. Fecundity of Prairie Voles by Months. Adults and Subadults are +Considered Together." /> +<span class="caption">Figure 2. Fecundity of Prairie Voles by Months. Adults and Subadults are +Considered Together.</span> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<a name="Figure_3" id="Figure_3"></a> +<img src="images/image003.png" width="800" height="533" alt="Figure 3. Seasonal Changes in the Length of Testes." title="Figure 3. Seasonal Changes in the Length of Testes." /> +<span class="caption">Figure 3. Seasonal Changes in the Length of Testes.</span> +</div> + + +<h3><a name="Size_of_Litters" id="Size_of_Litters"></a><span class="smcap">Size of Litters</span></h3> + +<p>The number of mammae characteristic of a species of vole may +be a rough guide to the average size of a litter for that species. +The prairie vole has fewer mammae (three pairs) than some other +voles in North America, and might, therefore, be expected to have +smaller litters. Fifty-eight gravid females of <i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> +examined by me had an average of 3.4 embryos each; the number +of embryos ranged from one to seven. Hamilton (1936a) gave 5.07 +as the average number of young per litter in <i>M. pennsylvanicus</i>. +Hatfield (1935) stated that <i>M. californicus</i> has an average of 5.7 +young in a litter. Both <i>pennsylvanicus</i> and <i>californicus</i> normally +have four pairs of mammae. The expectation as to the size of the +litter seems to be realized. In the prairie vole one pair of mammae +is pectoral and two pairs are abdominal. Usually a lactating vole +showed evidence of only the abdominal mammae having been in use.</p> + +<p>The size of litters was found to vary with the season of the year +(see <a href="#Table_9">table 9</a>). Gravid females were collected in every breeding +month except September.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Table_9" id="Table_9"></a><b><span class="smcap">Table 9.</span> <i>Average Size of Litters of Microtus ochrogaster by Months</i></b><a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" summary="table9"> +<tr><th colspan="1">Jan.</th><th colspan="1">Feb.</th><th colspan="1">Mar.</th><th colspan="1">Apr.</th><th colspan="1">May</th><th colspan="1">June</th><th colspan="1">July</th><th colspan="1">Aug.</th><th colspan="1">Sept.</th><th colspan="1">Oct.</th><th colspan="1">Nov.</th><th colspan="1">Dec.</th></tr> +<tr><td align="center"> 0</td><td align="center">2.8</td><td align="center">3.9</td><td align="center">3.2</td><td align="center">3.4</td><td align="center">3.1</td><td align="center">2.8</td><td align="center">3.0</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">3.2</td><td align="center">2.6</td><td align="center">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"> ..</td><td align="center">(4)</td><td align="center">(10)</td><td align="center">(6)</td><td align="center">(8)</td><td align="center">(9)</td><td align="center">(5)</td><td align="center">(2)</td><td align="center">..</td><td align="center">(5)</td><td align="center">(5)</td><td align="center">..</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> These months are from October, 1945, until August, 1946. The numbers in parentheses +indicate the number of gravid females collected each month.</p></div> + +<p>Table 9 shows that the prairie vole produced the largest litters in +March. A comparison of <a href="#Table_9">table 9</a> with <a href="#Figure_2">figure 2</a> shows that the largest +litters were produced at the height of the breeding season. Baker +and Ransom (1933), studying <i>Microtus agrestis</i>, also found that +larger litters were characteristic of the height of the breeding season; +and that at the beginning and at the end of the breeding season the +litters averaged smaller.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> + +<p>The size of litters varied also with the age of the female. To place +a gravid female in its proper age class, the weight of the embryos +was subtracted from the total weight, and the remaining weight was +used as the body weight. The average size of the litters of 14 subadults +was 2.9, and in 35 adults it was 3.4. Hatfield (<i>op. cit.</i>) +found that the younger females of <i>M. californicus</i> gave birth to +smaller litters than did the adults.</p> + +<p>Not included in either of the above analyses are nine gravid +females collected in November in a pasture watered by an artesian +spring in Atchison County, Kansas. In this pasture there was a +high concentration of prairie voles, and the percentage of fecundity +was much higher than in Douglas County at the same time. In +November only 29 per cent of the female prairie voles in Douglas +County were fecund, as against 59 per cent in Atchison County. The +average number of embryos of these nine voles was 4.1. Data from +Atchison County are not included in <a href="#Table_9">table 9</a>.</p> + + +<h3><a name="The_Breeding_Season" id="The_Breeding_Season"></a><span class="smcap">The Breeding Season</span></h3> + +<p>In October, 1945, when this study was begun, the prairie vole was +bringing forth young. In the winter of 1945-'46 at Lawrence, Kansas, +there was a cessation of reproduction. The reproductive activity +was measured in terms of the fecundity of the subadults and the +adults of both sexes. <a href="#Figure_2">Figure 2</a> suggests that the decline was most +marked in December and January; no gravid females were collected +in these two months, although two females trapped in the first week +of December were lactating. In October, November, and December, +85 per cent of the breeding females were adults. In October, 85 per +cent of the adult females were fecund, and in November, this figure +was 80 per cent. Reproduction at this season, in the females, it +appears, was largely a function of the adults. The proportion of +adults to the rest of the population was calculated for each month; +and the monthly changes in relative numbers of adults is shown in +<a href="#Figure_4">figure 4</a>. In November, December, and January there was a scarcity +of adult voles in the population. The autumnal decline in reproduction +occurred simultaneously with the disappearance of these +adults, and is thought to have been largely a result of it.</p> + +<p>Reproductive activity began in February; and in this month one-third +of the females contained embryos, and 90 per cent of the males +were fecund. Reproduction reached its height in March when fecundity +for the females and males was 77 per cent and 100 per cent +respectively. In April both sexes showed signs of being less productive,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +and still later in the spring the percentage of fecundity remained +at slightly over 65 for both sexes, this figure being higher +for the males than for the females for any one month. From January +to February there was a 30 per cent increase in the percentage +of adults in the population; and for this period, there was a 33 per +cent increase in the fecundity of both males and females. In February, +80 per cent of the fecund females were adults. The breeding +in the late winter, as in the fall, is thought to depend upon the percentage +of adults in the population. Hamilton (1937b) noted a +similar correlation between winter breeding and dominance of adults +in <i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i> in New York. Fisher (1945) found that +the prairie vole continued to breed throughout the winter of 1943-'44 +in Missouri; in such a case, one would expect to find a large proportion +of adults in the population.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 800px;"> +<a name="Figure_4" id="Figure_4"></a> +<img src="images/image004.png" width="800" height="570" alt="Figure 4. Seasonal Changes in the Numbers of Adults in Relation to the Total Population +of Prairie Voles." title="Figure 4. Seasonal Changes in the Numbers of Adults in Relation to the Total Population +of Prairie Voles." /> +<span class="caption">Figure 4. Seasonal Changes in the Numbers of Adults in Relation to the Total Population +of Prairie Voles.</span> +</div> + +<p>Throughout the winter of 1945-'46, at Lawrence, the majority of +males were fecund; but fecundity in the females was much less, and +in January, no females showed signs of reproductive activity. From +this it appears that the females, not the males, limit the breeding +season of this species.</p> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SUMMARY" id="SUMMARY"></a>SUMMARY</h2> + + +<p>In the eleven month period, October, 1945, until August, 1946, in +northeastern Kansas, more than five hundred specimens of the +prairie vole (<i>Microtus ochrogaster</i>) were examined in the flesh; and +forty free-living voles were examined 157 times—an average of +slightly less than four times each.</p> + +<p>There is a complete molt from juvenal to subadult pelage, and +one from subadult to adult pelage. These molts require three weeks +each. Subsequent molts are irregular and extend over longer periods +of time.</p> + +<p>This vole, in summer, inhabits areas of grass, clover, and alfalfa. +In winter, habitats with some woody growth may be sought. +Twenty-two kinds of plants were found to be used for food. Although +most of these were succulent plants, seeds and small woody +stems were sometimes eaten. The prairie vole, like some other +species of <i>Microtus</i>, lays away stores of food, usually underground; +the maximum quantity found in one cache was two gallons.</p> + +<p>Nine other species of small mammals occur in the same habitat +with the prairie vole, and frequently use its runways. The vole +makes a network of paths through the grass, and constructs its own +burrows which lead to its nests and food stores. Each of fifteen +nests found were underground. Most, if not all, of the underground +tunnels are dug when the soil is moist, not when the soil is dry.</p> + +<p>The commonest flea on the prairie vole is <i>Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes</i>; +it averages 1.9 (for subadult voles) to 3.4 (for adult voles) +per individual vole. Other fleas on this vole are <i>Orchopeas leucopus</i>, +<i>Orchopeas howardii</i>, <i>Nosopsyllus fasciatus</i>, <i>Epitedia wenmanni</i>, and +<i>Rectofrontia fraterna</i>. The two species of fleas which were actually +common on the vole (<i>C. pseudagyrtes</i> and <i>O. leucopus</i>), parasitized +also some other small mammals which lived in the same habitat as +the vole. One species of sucking louse (<i>Hoplopleura acanthopus</i>) +and two kinds of mites (<i>Laelaps kochi</i> and <i>Atricholaelaps glasgowi</i>) +which occur on the prairie vole in Kansas, occur also on +<i>Microtus californicus</i> in California and on <i>M. pennsylvanicus</i> in +New York. Only three ticks (1 <i>Dermacenter variabilis</i> and 2 +<i>Ixodes sculptus</i>) were found on the prairie vole.</p> + +<p>Fifty-eight gravid females had an average of 3.4 embryos. Litters +at the height of the breeding season are larger than those at the beginning +and at the end of the breeding season. Reproduction in +<i>Microtus ochrogaster</i> ceased in December, 1945, in northeastern +Kansas, and the first evidence of reproduction in 1946 was observed +in February.</p> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="LITERATURE_CITED" id="LITERATURE_CITED"></a>LITERATURE CITED</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Bailey, V.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1900. Revision of the American voles of the genus Microtus. N. Amer. +Fauna, 17:1-88, June 6, 1900.</p> + +<p class="i4">1920. Identity of the bean mouse of Lewis and Clark. Jour. Mamm., +1:70-72, November 28, 1919.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Baker, J. R.</span>, and <span class="smcap">Ransom, R. M.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1933. Factors affecting the breeding of the field mouse (<i>Microtus agrestris</i>). +Part 11. Temperature and food. Royal Soc. London Proc., (Ser. B) +112:39-46, November 1, 1932.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bole, B. P., Jr.</span>, and <span class="smcap">Moulthrop, P. N.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1942. The Ohio Recent mammal collection in the Cleveland Museum of +Natural History. Sci. Pub. Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist., 6:83-181, September +11, 1942.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Criddle, S.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1926. Habits of Microtus minor in Manitoba. Jour. Mamm., 7:193-200, +August 9, 1926.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Elton, C. S.</span>, <span class="smcap">E. B. Ford</span>, <span class="smcap">J. R. Baker</span>, and <span class="smcap">A. D. Gardner</span>.</p> + +<p class="i4">1931. The health and parasites of a wild mouse population. Proc. Zoöl. +Soc. London, 101:657-721, September 30, 1931.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Fisher, H. J.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1945. Notes on voles in central Missouri. Jour. Mamm., 26:435-437, November, +1945.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hatfield, D. M.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1935. A natural history study of Microtus californicus. Jour. Mamm., +16:261-271, November 15, 1935.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hamilton, W. J., Jr.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1937a. The biology of microtine cycles. Jour. Agr. Res., 54:779-790, May +15, 1937.</p> + +<p class="i4">1937b. Growth and life span of the field mouse. American Nat., 71:500, +September-October, 1937.</p> + +<p class="i4">1941. The reproduction of the field mouse, Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord). +Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta. Memoir 237, pp. 1-23, May, 1941.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Kennicott, R.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1856. The quadrupeds of Illinois. Part I, Rep. Commiss. Patents: Agriculture, +pp. 52-110, 1857.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lantz, D. E.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1907. An economic study of field mice (genus <i>Microtus</i>). U.S.D.A. Bull. +Biol. Surv., 31:1-64, October 28, 1907.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lowery, G. H., Jr.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1943. Check-list of the mammals of Louisiana and adjacent waters. Occas. +Papers Mus. Zoöl., Louisiana State Univ., 13:213-257, November 22, +1943.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> +<p><span class="smcap">Nelson, E. W.</span></p> + +<p class="i4">1893. Description of a new species of <i>Arvicola</i>, of the Mynomes group, from +Alaska. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 8:140-142, December 28, 1893.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Quick, E. W.</span>, and <span class="smcap">A. W. Butler</span>.</p> + +<p class="i4">1885. The habits of some Arvicolinae. American Nat., 19:113-118, February, +1885.</p> + + +<p class="i4"><i>Transmitted August 13, 1946.</i><br /> +<br /></p> +<p class="center"><small>21-6957</small></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>Transcriber's Notes</h3> + + +<p> +Page <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, Table 3, under Compositae: changed Loctuca to Lactuca<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(_Loctuca scariola_)</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and changed artemsiifolia to artemisiifolia</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(_A. artemsiifolia_)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_139">139</a>: changed trappd to trapped<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(from live-trapped and some snap-trappd voles.)</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and changed rate to rat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(the prairie vole and the cotton rate)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_141">141</a>: changed Almeda to Alameda<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(at Calaveras Dam, Almeda County, California,)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_142">142</a>: kept section heading: Mites (Acarina except Ixodoidea)<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(the TOC lists the variation Acari instead of Acarina)</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and changed Almeda to Alameda</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(at Calaveras Dam, Almeda County, California.)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_143">143</a>: changed tridecimlineaus to tridecimlineatus<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(ground squirrel (_Citellus tridecimlineaus_) at Lawrence.)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Note: Another spelling variation is: tridecemlineatus.</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_146">146</a>: changed table 2 to table 9<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(A comparison of table 2 with figure 2 shows that the largest)</span><br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_143">143</a>: kept spelling variation: Dermacentor variabilis<br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_149">149</a>: kept spelling variation: Dermacenter variabilis<br /> +<br /> +Page <a href="#Page_150">150</a>: changed LITERAURE to LITERATURE<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(LITERAURE CITED)</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and kept spelling variation: agrestris, being a reference citation</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(1933. Factors affecting ... field mouse (_Microtus agrestris_)).</span><br /> +</p> + + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Natural History of the Prairie Vole +(Mammalian Genus Microtus), by E. W. Jameson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRAIRIE VOLE (MAMMALIAN GENUS MICROTUS) *** + +***** This file should be named 36286-h.htm or 36286-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/2/8/36286/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Diane Monico, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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