Occurrence and infestation rates of Streblidae (Diptera, Hippoboscoidea) on bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) in a semideciduous seasonal forest fragment in western Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the occurrence and infestation rates of Streblidae species on bats in a semideciduous seasonal forest fragment in western Paraná, South of Brazil. A total of 289 specimens of eight Streblidae species were collected from six species of bats belonging to the family Phyllostomidae. The most frequent Streblidae species were Megistopoda proxima (Séguy, 1926), Aspidoptera falcata Wenzel, 1976 and Paratrichobius longicrus (Miranda Ribeiro, 1907). The highest prevalence found was Megistopoda aranea (Coquillet, 1899) on Artibeus planirostris (Spinx, 1823). The highest intensity found was M. aranea on Artibeus lituratus (Olfers, 1818). The highest abundance found was M. proxima on Sturnira lilium (E. Geoffroy, 1810). All recorded species were highly specific to their hosts, except M. aranea. Two infracommunities were recorded: M. aranea and Metelasmus pseudopterus (Coquillett, 1907) on A. planirostris, and M. proxima and A. falcata on S. lilium. The results showed a trend of occurrence of ectoparasites on females, considering the most frequently captured bats, the seasons had no pattern in the prevalence and intensity factors in this sampling area to them. Studies evaluating the life cycle of these parasites, and the behavior and morpho-physiology of these hosts are necessary since the parasitism rate can be affected by other factors that were not evaluated in this study.