First records of ectoparasitic insects (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) of bats in the department of Caldas, Colombia

Jorge Raigosa Álvarez,Analía Gladys Autino,Carolina García Osorio,Lucimar Gomes Dias

doi:10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.18

Jorge Raigosa Álvarez, Analía Gladys Autino + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.18

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Abstract

In Colombia, the taxonomical understanding of ectoparasites (Diptera: Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) of bats is scarce, despite the high diversity of hosts. This fact reflects the lack of important information on the group and poses the need for studies that expand the knowledge on bat ectoparasites in different regions of the country. The aim of this study was to contribute pioneer knowledge on bat ectoparasitic insects in the department of Caldas, located in the Central Andes Mountain range of Colombia. We assessed 318 bats from four eco parks in the city of Manizales, and collected 234 ectoparasitic insects. We provide the first report of the family Streblidae for Caldas, with seven genera and eight species: Anastrebla caudiferae Wenzel, 1976, Anatrichobius scorzai Wenzel, 1966, Exastinion oculatum Wenzel, 1976, Megistopoda proxima (Séguy‚ 1926), Paratrichobius longicrus Ribeiro, 1907, Paraeuctenodes similis Wenzel, 1976, Trichobius longipes Rudow, 1871, and Trichobius tiptoni Wenzel, 1976. In addition, we report the species Basilia ferrisi Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1931 and Basilia sp. for the family Nycteribiidae.

Highlights

We provide the first report of the family Streblidae for Caldas, with seven genera and eight species: Anastrebla caudiferae Wenzel, 1976, Anatrichobius scorzai Wenzel, 1966, Exastinion oculatum Wenzel, 1976, Megistopoda proxima (Séguy‚ 1926), Paratrichobius longicrus Ribeiro, 1907, Paraeuctenodes similis Wenzel, 1976, Trichobius longipes Rudow, 1871, and Trichobius tiptoni Wenzel, 1976
The most abundant species in the eco parks were P. longicrus (Fig. 2) (38.39%), P. similis (Fig. 3) (22.22%), T. tiptoni (Fig. 4) (8.12%), and A. caudiferae (Fig. 5) (8.12%), while the remaining species showed relative abundances below 8.12% (Table 1)
We found that the distribution and specificity of the ectoparasite is associated with the presence or absence of a given host species, and that the intensity and prevalence of insect parasitism in bats can vary according to the host species

Summary

Introduction

In the last two decades, the study of bat ectoparasites has shown important advances in South America (Autino & Claps, 2000; Graciolli & Carvalho, 2001; Presley, 2004; Graciolli et al, 2007; Dick et al, 2007; Autino et al, 2009, 2011, among others).Currently, seven orders and approximately 6,000 species of mammal ectoparasitic insects have been registered. In the last two decades, the study of bat ectoparasites has shown important advances in South America (Autino & Claps, 2000; Graciolli & Carvalho, 2001; Presley, 2004; Graciolli et al, 2007; Dick et al, 2007; Autino et al, 2009, 2011, among others). In South America, the most representative bat ectoparasitic insects are Streblidae and Nycteribiidae (Wenzel, 1970; Guerrero, 1993, 1994a, b, 1995a, b, 1996a, 1997; Autino & Claps, 2000; Dick & Gettinger, 2005; Dick, 2006; Graciolli et al, 2007). Other insect groups that exclusively parasitize bats are Hemiptera (Polyctenidae and some species of Cimicidae) and Siphonaptera (Ischnopsyllidae), as well as Hectopsylla (Rhynchopsyllus) pulex (Haller, 1880) (Tungidae), Craneopsylla m. minerva (Rothschild, 1903) and C. m. wolffhuegeli (Rothschild, 1909) (Stephanocircidae) (Autino & Claps, 2000; Lareschi et al, 2016)

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