Microtus arvalis

The field vole of the fields ( Microtus arvalis ) is small a Mammifère opened mediums, meadow or edge S forest, which can pullulate in a cyclic way and can then devastate the cultures or the meadows.

It is a species which locally is host and " réservoir" of worms Cestode, Parasite ( Echinococcus multilocularis ), which can contaminate the Man. Its principal predatory is mustélidés, the fox and the raptors. The dogs and cats can drive out them, eaten and become vectors for the man of the alveolar echinococcosis.

Il should not be confused with the Canadian species Microtus pennsylvanicus , also called “field vole of the fields” (or “mulot”) in Canada.

Description

The field vole of the fields to a squat and round body. Its tail is shorter or equal to the length of its body. With the old adult, the length of the head and body vary between 9 to 13 cm, the tail from 3 to 4,5 cm for a weight 18 to 50 G.

Reproduction

Manpower follow an annual cycle on which sometimes a cycle of Pullulation is superimposed. The cycle is minimal after the winter, quickly growing in May - June, and maximum in September - October. An early starting of the reproduction in spring and a relatively high level of population at the end of the winter announce a pullulation. The cycle of pullulation breaks up into 4 phases:

low density (2 to 3 years; 0 to 10 individus/ha)
growth (1 to 2 years)
strong density (1 to 4 years; 1.200 individus/ha)
decline (1 to 2 years).

The lifespan is 6 months and can reach up to 16 month in kind.

The rate of reproduction is high: 3 to 6 annual ranges from 4 to 5 young people per female.

Habitat

The field vole of the fields lives in burrows. It digs galleries with many open openings connected surfaces some by castings where it deposits its droppings.

Food

It nourishes herbaceous plants or of Graine S taken on the surface of the ground what in fact a Ravageur of crop plants. The attacked plants are mainly the Céréale S, the Artichaut, the Endive, the Laitue and the Chicorée. It soup air parts of cereals, lucerne fields, cultures seed-bearers, meadows. In Orchard S, the base of the trunks is corroded. It is potential vector of diseases to human or animal incidence.

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