The U.S. National Parasite Collection (USNPC) is one of the foremost parasitology collections in the world, and since its transfer to the Smithsonian in 2014, collections data have been available but mostly untapped in ecology. We present the fully georeferenced USNPC, a novel dataset on helminth and ectoparasite distributions that is currently unparalleled in parasitology. In combination with other datasets, the USNPC allows testing of macroecological hypotheses with unprecedented detail. Here, we illustrate how the “USNPC+” (in conjunction with host-parasite association records from the London Natural History Museum) can offer insight into a controversial question: does host specificity constrain parasite geographical ranges?
Results/Conclusions
Compared to previous state-of-the-art data, the greater species coverage of the USNPC+ allows an unprecedented testing of the specificity-range size relationship. We show that a strong positive correlation exists between range size and generalism exists for three groups of helminths (acanthocephalans and trematodes, and to a lesser degree, cestodes). However, we find no relationship for nematodes, despite a sizable sample; preliminary results suggest the massive evolutionary diversity of the Nematoda may obscur this type of macroecological pattern at the clade level.