Macroparasites of Microchiroptera: Bat Ectoparasites of Central and South America

Abstract

The highest density of bat species in the world is reached in South and Central America. Representatives of nine families occur in this gigantic region between the southern part of the continental twin and the land bridge to North America. They display a high degree of ecological variance: exemplified by species with extensive or endemic distributions, specialist and generalist feeding habits, colonial and solitary roosting, and those that are migratory or permanently resident. However, they are all exposed to the deleterious effects of parasites. In terms of the number of species and higher taxa, the diversity of parasites considerably exceeds that of their hosts. A total of 172 bat species of 9 families as hosts and 273 ectoparasite species are summarised in this review. We included data from 20 South and Central American countries. Of foremost importance are Diptera of the families Nycteribiidae and Streblidae with 187 different species. For the last mentioned family, we recorded more than 61 % of the worldwide known species. Further, fleas (Siphonaptera) (8 species), bugs (Hemiptera) (4 species) and Arachnida of the orders Ixodida and Mesostigmata (74 species) are also represented. The large numbers of species, like Basilia carteri, belong to the two families of Diptera, which parasitise only on bats. Together with their high degree of specialisation, it is an indication for their high rate of adaptation. Investigations on the parasite fauna of bats have been conducted in the named areas with different frequency and intensity. This chapter contains a reference list of the bats that have been scientifically studied in South and Central America so far, with respect to their associated parasites. We

<strong>Checklist of the Helminth Parasites of South American Bats</strong>

“…Consequently, it would appear that the endoparasitic fauna of this group in South America appears rather depauperate when compared to the rich ectoparasitic fauna reported by Frank et al (2014), i.e. 273 species.…”

Infracommunities of bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in three conservation units in the State of Amapá, Brazil

“…The new registers for Brazil were already known for another country of the South and Central America. The species S. asternalis and S. matsoni where known only for Venezuela (Wenzel 1976, Guerrero 1994b, Frank et al 2014. S. magnioculus still be known for Venezuela, has also been found in Peru (Wenzel 1976, Guerrero 1994b, Frank et al 2014).…”

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

“…The present note therefore increases the number of species of the genus Basilia registered in Colombia to eight; and considering all Nycteribiidae species, it increases to nine (Graciolli et al 2016). This record adds Colombia in the distribution range of this species in the Latin American countries (Graciolli et al 2007, Frank et al 2014, Graciolli et al 2016). In addition, it contributes to the scarce information on bat flies of the family Nycteribiidae in Colombia, with only four references available (Guimarães & D´Andretta 1956, Peterson & Maa 1970…”

“…ferrisi Schuurmans-Stekhoven, Jr., 1931;and B. wenzeli Guimarães & D'Andretta, 1956 (Diptera, Nycteribiidae). Basilia mimoni has not been previously recorded in Colombia, it is originally registered in Peru and Brazil in the states of Distrito Federal, Pará, and Maranhão, with all records in the striped-hairynosed bat Gardnerycteris crenulatum Geoffroy, 1803 (Chiroptera, Pyllostomidae) (Graciolli 2001, Graciolli et al 2007, Frank et al 2014, Figueiredo et al 2015. In this study, we report for the first time the presence of B. mimoni in the Peri-Caribbean Arid Belt Biogeographical Province, Colombian Caribbean in Northern Colombia.…”

“…In this family, there are three degrees of hostparasite specificity, according to Vanin & Vernier (2009): (1) specificity to one host species, such as Basilia corynorhini Ferris, 1916 (Diptera, Nycteribiidae) and Corynorhinus townsendii Cooper, 1837 (Diptera, Nycteribiidae) (Frank et al 2014); (2) specificity to a host genus or family, such as Basilia juquiensis Guimaraes, 1946 (Diptera, Nycteribiidae) -genus Myotis Kaup, 1829 (Chiroptera) (Graciolli & Carvalho 2001); and (3) lack of specificity, such as Basilia carteri Scott, 1936 (Diptera, Nycteribiidae) parasitizing more than two host genus (Frank et al 2014). The host specificity is mainly determined by ecological factors and geographical isolation (Dick & Patterson 2006, Dick & Pospischil 2015.…”