Bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae) of phyllostomid bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from the mountainous central region of Veracruz, Mexico.

Abstract

The studies of bat flies of the family Streblidae Kolenati, 1863 in Mexico have intensified in the last five years, usually providing new geographical records of species and new bats host records. Currently, the Mexican fauna of streblids is composed of 59 species, representing 26% of total global species richness. Veracruz is one of the states with a high number of species in Mexico with 69% of species recorded in the country. We sampled a total of 527 bats of four subfamilies and 12 species, collecting a total of 870 specimens of 19 species of streblids. Megistopoda proxima (Séguy, 1926) and Paratrichobius longicrus (Miranda Ribeiro, 1907) were the most abundant species in the collection and are the two species found in a higher number of bat species. We provide comments on the taxonomy and host species for bat flies, increase the species records for this state, and add new host records for some streblids, contributing to the knowledge of streblid fauna of the mountain central region of the state of Veracruz, Mexico.