Descriptive ecology of bat flies (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) associated with vampire bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in the cerrado of Central Brazil

Abstract

We studied the ectoparasitic bat flies of three phyllostomid vampire bat species. Bats were collected monthly from April 2004-March 2005 True ectoparasites spend most of their adult lives, or all developmental phases, on the bodies of their hosts or in their hosts' shelters (Marshall 1982). Streblidae (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) are obligate ectoparasites of bats (Dick & Patterson 2008) and, consequently, are found primarily in tropical areas with relatively few species in the subtropical and warm temperate zones .Knowledge of bat ectoparasites has provided important information on the host's biology, systematics and phylogeny (Fritz 1983) and is essential for better understanding the ecology of bats and bat behaviour in shelters. This knowledge has also explained aspects of larviposition and infestation by ectoparasites and the epidemiology of pathogen transmission in bats (Komeno & Linhares 1999).The host's roosting habits are important factors in the bat-ectoparasite system (ter Hofstede et al. 2004, Patterson et al. 2007, Seneviratne et al. 2009). The variability in bat roosting preferences and ectoparasite fauna provides significant insights relating to parasite ecology and specificity (ter Hofstede et al. 2004). Host specificity is typical for parasite-host associations and is often even higher in obligate or permanent parasite associa- tions (Dick et al. 2009). Ectoparasites can be classified as heteroxenous when they can infest many species in many genera, monoxenous when they are found on only one host species, stenoxenous when they are found on host species of the same genus and oligoxenous when they are found regularly on hosts of different genera (ter Hofstede et al. 2004).The Brazilian savannah, also known as the cerrado, covers approximately two million km 2 of Central Brazil and is considered one of the richest and most threatened biodiversity reservoirs in the world (Mittermeier et al. 2005). This region is responsible for most Brazilian soy and corn production and ranching in this region produces almost 40 million heads of cattle per year (Aguiar et al. 2008). Bats account for nearly 50% of the total mammalian fauna of the cerrado biome (Aguiar & Machado 2010). This generates a great deal of concern due to their association with rabies, though most rabies cases are caused by just one vampire species, Desmodus rotundus (Gonçalves et al. 2002). Of the vampire bat species, D. rotundus is the most common and widespread species in Central and South America. Their primary food source is mammalian blood, but they also feed on avian blood. The two other vampire bat species, Diaemus youngi and Diphylla ecaudata, are rare and feed mainly on avian blood (Aguiar et al. 2006).There are few studies on bat ectoparasites and their relationship with their hosts in Brazil (Gettinger & Gribel 1989, Komeno & Linhares 1999 Graciolli et al. 2008). The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of host specificity of the bat flies on vampire bat species in the cerrado of Central Brazil. Previous studies of ect...

Ectoparasitic insects (Diptera: Streblidae and Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae) of bats from Iquitos and surrounding areas (Loreto, Peru)

“…S. curvata, recorded as monoxenous, was usually found on bats of the genus Glossophaga (Wenzel 1976, Dick & Gettinger 2005), but we collected this species on a specimen of Carollia brevicauda (Schinz). S. wiedemanni Kolenati was found parasitising several species of bats (Marinkelle & Grose 1981, Guerrero 1996b, Graciolli & Carvalho 2001, Rios et al 2008, Rojas et al 2008), but we only found it on Desmodus rotundus (É. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire) (monoxenous), which is considered its primary host (Aguiar & Antonini 2011). Noctiliostrebla aitkeni Wenzel is known mainly as a parasite of Noctilio leporinus (Linnaeus) and recorded as monoxenous, but we found this species in sympatry with P. fusca on one specimen of N. leporinus (MMD 2809), an association also observed by Graciolli and Carvalho (2001).…”

Parasitism of ectoparasitic flies on bats in the northern Brazilian cerrado

“…In addition to the new records of associations (Table I), we found the following variations in the component communities: the absence of Paraeuctenodes similis Wenzel, 1976 on C. perspicillata, association observed in regions of Atlantic forest (Bertola et al in 2005, Prevedello et al 2005 and Amazon forest (Guerrero 1996); the absence of Metelasmus pseudopterus Coquillet, 1907, which is found parasitizing species of Artibeus from the south-central Brazil (Eriksson et al 2011, Bertola et al 2005; the lower number of ectoparasitic species on Desmodus rotundus (E. Geoffroy, 1810), that in other areas of cerrado is also parasitised by Trichobius furmani Wenzel, 1966 and Strebla wiedemanni Kolenati, 1856 (Eriksson et al in 2011, Aguiar andAntonini 2011); the absence of Trichobius uniformis Curran, 1935 andStrebla curvata Wenzel, 1976 on Glossophaga soricina (Pallas, 1766), found on this species in cerrado areas (Eriksson et al 2011, in addition to the parasitism by Paraeuctenodes longipes Pessoa et Guimaraes, 1937 recorded in the southern Brazil (Graciolli and Rui 2001). It is also highlighted the absence of parasitism on A. cinereus, a species with register of parasitism by ectoparasitic flies of the genus Neotrichobius Wenzel and Aitken, 1966 in the Amazon region (Guerrero 1994a).…”

“…In the neotropics, bat species harboring more than one fly species has been observed also in areas of tropical forest (Teixeira andFerreira 2010, Bertola et al 2005), cerrado (Aguiar and Antonini 2011), Venezuela (Wenzel 1976) and eastern Amazon forest . In this study, the highest proportion of hosts with infracommunities of ectoparasitic flies (40.5%) was found mainly in Lophostoma species (Table II).…”

“…In Brazil, studies on bats' ectoparasitic flies in cerrado region have mainly comprised of faunal inventories (Graciolli and Coelho 2001;Graciolli and Aguiar 2002;Graciolli et al 2006aGraciolli et al , 2010. The few Ciro Líbio Caldas dos Santos et al 208 studies that have addressed quantitative aspects of this system in this biome are concentrated in areas of west-central Brazil (Coimbra et al 1984, Komeno and Linhares 1999, Eriksson et al 2011, Aguiar and Antonini 2011.…”

Lista das espécies de Hippoboscoidea (Diptera) no estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

“…Pela facilidade de captura e de manipulação do hospedeiro e a melhor visualização dos dípteros sobre o corpo de morcegos, vários artigos têm sido publicados sobre a ocorrência de dípteros ectoparasitos de morcegos no Brasil (por exemplo, Dias et al, 2009;Graciolli & Bianconi, 2007;Graciolli et al, 2010;Lourenço & Esbérard, 2011;Aguiar & Antonini, 2011). Além disso, artigos recentes sobre a taxonomia dessas famílias de dípteros ectoparasitos de morcegos têm facilitado a identificação dos gêneros e das espécies e despertado o interesse de estudantes e pesquisadores (Dick & Miller, 2010;Graciolli, 2004;Graciolli & Azevedo, 2011;Graciolli & Carvalho, 2001a;2001b;Graciolli & Dick, 2012;Graciolli & Moura, 2005), enquanto importantes contribuições sobre a taxonomia de hipoboscídeos neotropicais são mais escassos (Graciolli & Carvalho, 2003;, sendo os mais importantes publicados a mais 40 anos (Bequaert, 1954;Maa, 1969;Peterson & Maa, 1970), por exemplo.…”