Grassland birds have been declining substantially for the past several years. Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation as well as climate change are all thought to be the main drivers of the decline. However, as the declines continue to accelerate, it is becoming imperative to examine other factors that may contribute to population fluctuations. The nematodes Oxyspirura petrowi, Aulonocephalus pennula, and Physaloptera sp. are commonly found infecting northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), a game species of economic importance, and all 3 nematodes use insects as an intermediate host. Here we used polymerase chain reaction techniques to determine the occurrence of the 3 nematodes in 7 insect orders to uncover epidemiological patterns of the greatest potential for transmission to northern bobwhite. Insects were collected from March through September using sweep nets and pitfall traps. An R × C chi-squared test with Monte Carlo simulation was used to determine differences in the occurrence of the parasites across taxa and time. The results of the statistical analysis showed the nematodes are predominantly found in the order Orthoptera, and A. pennula and Physaloptera sp. showed epidemiological patterns in insects. However, no such pattern was observed with O. petrowi. An explanation for the lack of epidemiological pattern in O. petrowi is proposed and the diversity of known insect hosts of the 3 nematodes is increased.

过去几年，草原鸟类数量大幅减少。栖息地丧失、退化、破碎化以及气候变化都被认为是物种数量下降的主要驱动因素。然而，随着人口下降继续加速，研究可能导致人口波动的其他因素变得势在必行。线虫Oxyspirura petrowi、Aulonocephalus pennula和Physaloptera sp。常见于感染北方短白鲨（Colinus virginianus）），一种具有经济重要性的游戏物种，所有 3 种线虫都以昆虫作为中间宿主。在这里，我们使用聚合酶链反应技术确定了 7 种昆虫目中 3 种线虫的出现情况，以揭示最有可能传播到北方短白蚁的流行病学模式。从三月到九月，使用扫网和陷阱收集昆虫。使用蒙特卡罗模拟的 R × C 卡方检验来确定寄生虫在不同分类单元和时间上出现的差异。统计分析结果表明，线虫主要为直翅目、半岛线虫和轮纹线虫。显示昆虫的流行病学模式。然而，没有观察到这种模式O.彼得罗维。提出了对O. petrowi缺乏流行病学模式的解释，并增加了 3 种线虫已知昆虫宿主的多样性。