and of the more than 300 wild lorises observed, representing all
species, only two instances of infestation by ectoparasites have
been observed (Nekaris et al., 2013; Streicher, 2004). It has been
proposed that this is due to the chemicals produced by their saliva,
brachial grand secretions, or a combination of the two.
We explored whether the secretions produced by slow lorises
are lethal to ectoparasites by examining the physiological responses
of arthropods to slow loris venom. We predicted that: a)
arthropods will die more rapidly after direct exposure to slow loris
secretions and b) arthropods will avoid moving to test areas that
have been applied with slow loris secretions.