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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060
EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 106, No. 2, 2011, pp. 170-176
Bioline Code: oc11028
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 106, No. 2, 2011, pp. 170-176

 en Descriptive ecology of bat flies (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) associated with vampire bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in the cerrado of Central Brazil
de Souza Aguiar, Ludmilla Moura & Antonini, Yasmine

Abstract

We studied the ectoparasitic bat flies of three phyllostomid vampire bat species. Bats were collected monthly from April 2004-March 2005 in caves within the Cafuringa Environmental Protection Area in the Federal District of Brazil. A total of 1,259 specimens from six species in the Streblidae family were collected from 332 bats. High host affinity from the sampled bat fly species and high prevalence of bat flies confirms the primary fly-host associations ( Strebla wiedemanni check for this species in other resources , Trichobius parasiticus check for this species in other resources and Trichobius furmani check for this species in other resources with Desmodus, Trichobius diaemi check for this species in other resources and Strebla diaemi check for this species in other resources with Diaemus and T. furmani with Diphylla). Male flies outnumbered females in several associations. Some of the observed associations (e.g., Strebla mirabilis check for this species in other resources with Desmodus and S. mirabilis, Trichobius uniformis check for this species in other resources and S. wiedemanni with Diphylla) were inconclusive and the causes of the associations were unclear. There are several explanations for these associations, including (i) accidental contamination during sampling, (ii) simultaneous capture of several host species in the same net or (iii) genuine, but rare, ecological associations. Although various species of vampire bats share roosts, have similar feeding habits and are close phylogenetic relatives, they generally do not share ectoparasitic streblid bat flies. T. diaemi and S. diaemi associations with Diaemus youngi have not been previously reported in this region.

Keywords
cerrado - ectoparasites - Strebla diaemi - Trichobius diaemi - vampire bats

 
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