First records of ectoparasitic insects (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) of bats in the department of Caldas, Colombia

Abstract

In Colombia, the taxonomical understanding of ectoparasites (Diptera: Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) of bats is scarce, despite the high diversity of hosts. This fact reflects the lack of important information on the group and poses the need for studies that expand the knowledge on bat ectoparasites in different regions of the country. The aim of this study was to contribute pioneer knowledge on bat ectoparasitic insects in the department of Caldas, located in the Central Andes Mountain range of Colombia. We assessed 318 bats from four eco parks in the city of Manizales, and collected 234 ectoparasitic insects. We provide the first report of the family Streblidae for Caldas, with seven genera and eight species: Anastrebla caudiferae Wenzel, 1976, Anatrichobius scorzai Wenzel, 1966, Exastinion oculatum Wenzel, 1976, Megistopoda proxima (Séguy‚ 1926), Paratrichobius longicrus Ribeiro, 1907, Paraeuctenodes similis Wenzel, 1976, Trichobius longipes Rudow, 1871, and Trichobius tiptoni Wenzel, 1976. In addition, we report the species Basilia ferrisi Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1931 and Basilia sp. for the family Nycteribiidae.

New records of Basilia Miranda-Ribeiro, 1903 (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea: Nycteribiidae) from Colombia

“…Basilia ferrisi is in the speiseri species group because females have two abdominal tergites and the second one has a slightly rounded posterior margin (Graciolli, 2010). This species is distributed in Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guyana, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela (Graciolli et al, 2007(Graciolli et al, , 2016Raigosa Álvarez et al, 2020) and the herein presented record, extend its geographic distribution to the Sucre department. Basilia ferrisi has been registered in a wide host diversity from the Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae, and Molossidae families (Graciolli et al, 2007), and here we add the vespertilionid bat Eptesicus brasiliensis.…”

“…The genus Basilia has 53 species (Graciolli et al, 2007;Graciolli & Dick, 2009), and there are eight species registered from Colombia: Basilia anceps Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956 (Caquetá); B. astochia Peterson & Maa, 1970 (Santander); B. bequaerti Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956 (Tolima); B. constricta Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956 (Bolívar); B. dubia Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956 (Putumayo);B. ferrisi Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1931 (Antioquia, Bolívar, Caldas, Chocó, Meta, Santander); B. ferrisi Theodor & Peterson, 1964 (Córdoba); and B. wenzeli Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956 (Cundinamarca) (Graciolli et al, 2016;Pastrana-Montiel et al, 2019;Raigosa Álvarez et al, 2020). Local inventories of bats along the country and the careful harvesting of their associated parasites (i.e., Tarquino-Carbonell et al, 2015;Raigosa Álvarez et al, 2020) have allowed to discover a high diversity of bat flies and even new associations.…”

“…ferrisi Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1931 (Antioquia, Bolívar, Caldas, Chocó, Meta, Santander); B. ferrisi Theodor & Peterson, 1964 (Córdoba); and B. wenzeli Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956 (Cundinamarca) (Graciolli et al, 2016;Pastrana-Montiel et al, 2019;Raigosa Álvarez et al, 2020). Local inventories of bats along the country and the careful harvesting of their associated parasites (i.e., Tarquino-Carbonell et al, 2015;Raigosa Álvarez et al, 2020) have allowed to discover a high diversity of bat flies and even new associations. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the diversity knowledge of the Diptera parasites associated with bats in Colombia.…”

Exploring the relationship between bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) and ectoparasitic flies (Diptera, Hippoboscoidea) of the Orinoquia Region in South America

“…In Neotropical countries with a high number of bat species such as Colombia (~ 217 species) and Venezuela (172 species) ( Delgado-Jaramillo et al 2016 ; Ramírez-Chaves et al 2021 ), studies on Streblidae and Nycteribiidae are few and discontinuous (e.g., Tamsitt and Fox 1970 ; Marinkelle and Grose 1981 ; Guerrero 1994 ). In recent years, new research has expanded the knowledge about these ectoparasites in both countries ( Herrera-Sepúlveda 2013 ; Tarquino-Carbonell 2014 ; Tarquino-Carbonell et al 2015 ; Dick et al 2016 ; Durán et al 2018 ; Calonge-Camargo and Pérez-Torres 2018 ; Guerrero 2019 ; Liévano-Romero et al 2019 ; Raigosa Álvarez et al 2020 ; Cañizales and Guerrero 2022 ). Nonetheless, there are very few studies in the Orinoquia Region, a hydrographic basin that converges into the Orinoco River, covering an area of almost 989,000 km 2 ( Domínguez 1998 ), and shared by both countries ( Guimarães 1972 ; Wenzel 1976 ; Dick et al 2016 ; Liévano-Romero et al 2019 ; López Rivera et al 2022 ).…”

“…Of the 125 Streblidae species reported in Colombia and Venezuela (81 and 107 respectively; Wenzel 1976 ; Tarquino-Carbonell et al 2015 ; Dick et al 2016 ; Duran et al 2017; Calonge-Camargo and Pérez-Torres 2018 ; Guerrero 2019 ; Liévano-Romero et al 2019 ; Ascuntar-Osnas et al 2020 ; Raigosa Álvarez et al 2020 ; López Rivera et al 2022 ), 124 have been documented for the Orinoquia in ~ 96 bat species of the families Emballonuridae , Molossidae , Mormoopidae , Natalidae , Noctilionidae , Phyllostomidae , and Vespertilionidae ( Wenzel 1976 ; Dick et al 2016 ; Guerrero 2019 ; Liévano-Romero et al 2019 ; López Rivera et al 2022 ). Similarly, of the 16 Nycteribiidae reported in Colombia and Venezuela (11 and 13, respectively; Wenzel and Tipton 1966 ; Graciolli et al 2016 ; Pastrana-Montiel et al 2019 ; Raigosa Álvarez et al 2020 ; López Rivera et al 2022 ), 12 have been found in the Orinoquia (two in Colombia, 12 in Venezuela; Wenzel and Tipton 1966 ; Graciolli et al 2016 ; López Rivera et al 2022 ). Besides the high number of bats and bat flies documented in the Orinoquia, the interaction structure that might be evaluated using ecological or interaction networks ( Dormann et al 2009 ), has not been addressed.…”