Diversity and prevalence of ornithophilic louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae: Ornithomyinae) in Serbia

Contributions to our knowledge on avian louse flies (Hippoboscidae: Ornithomyinae) with the first European record of the African species Ornithoctona laticornis

“…The other louse fly species identified in this study as Ornithomya avicularia , O. fringillina , O. biloba , O. chloropus and Ornithoica turdi have all been previously reported in Hungary [ 22 ]. The euryxenous natures of O. avicularia , O. turdi and O. fringillina have long been known, as has the host specificity of O. biloba towards the Hirundinidae family (especially the Barn Swallow) [ 10 , 13 , 16 , 22 , 36 , 37 ].…”

“…Hippoboscids were also caught from the environment of the bird-ringing facilities. As many flies can fall off or escape from the bird during the capturing and the ringing procedure [ 10 ], some avian louse flies were found in and around the buildings where the birds were ringed. In these cases, it was impossible to identify the original hosts and, therefore, the term “environment” was used.…”

“…Although studies on louse flies originating from Central [ 3 ] Northern [ 14 ], Southern [ 10 ], Western [ 15 ] and Eastern Europe [ 16 ] have also been conducted, only a few of these report long-term evaluations with continuous sample collection. The number of studies conducted on avian ectoparasites steadily increased in Hungary and in other Central European countries during the previous decade [ 2 , 3 , 12 , 17 , 18 ], but studies on ornithophilic hippoboscids appear to have been neglected compared to other arthropod vectors that are generally considered epidemiologically more important (i.e.…”