FIRST RECORD OF THE PARASITE BAT FLY Basilia mimoni THEODOR & PETERSON, 1964 (DIPTERA: NYCTERIBIIDAE) IN COLOMBIA

Abstract

The ectoparasites of bats belonging to the family Nycteribiidae (Insecta, Diptera) are highly specialized and little is known about this family in the New World. Only two genera of the family Nycteribiidae are catalogued in Colombia, Basilia, with seven species, and Hershkovitzia, with only one species. This is the first report of Basilia mimoni in Colombia. Two females and one male were collected from the bat Gardnerycteris keenani (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae). These records broaden the distribution range of this parasite species in Latin America and increase to nine the number of species in the family Nycteribiidae in Colombia.

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

“…Therefore, according to the host distribution, the B. tiptoni records from Graciolli et al (2007) probably comes from G. keenani for Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama, and from G. crenulatum for Venezuela and Brazil. Thus, this species would have also a second degree of specificity like it was proposed for B. ferrisi (i.e., Pastrana-Montiel et al, 2019), because it keeps associated with two bat species in a solely genus (Gardnerycteris). This is a high specificity degree and each fly species distribution is associated with the distribution of their hosts (G. keenani and G. crenulatum).…”

“…Finally, an occurrence map for Basilia species was constructed in ArcMap, including the herein presented records, the museum specimens (some type localities) listed in the Catalogue of Diptera of Colombia (Graciolli et al, 2016) and the recently recorded species B. ferrisi (Pastrana-Montiel et al, 2019). For most of those records the original listed localities were georreferenced and completed or corrected, this was necessary as some of the specific localities lack full details (e.g., municipalities) or were assigned to another department not consigned in the original labels, but the specific localities allowed us to find and solve those inconsistences (Fig.…”

“…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.…”

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

“…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.…”

Ectoparasites (Diptera: Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) of bats from some localities of the Coast of Ecuador

“…It is noteworthy that the families Streblidae and Nycteribiidae have been the primary focus of research in the Neotropical region. As evidenced by various publications, 68 species have been documented in Peru (Minaya et al, 2021), 82 in Colombia (Dick et al, 2016;Pastrana-Montiel et al, 2019), 130 in Venezuela (Guerrero, 2019;Guimarães, 1972;Wenzel, 1976), and 119 in Brazil Hrycyna et al, 2019).…”