Inventário de moscas ectoparasitas (Diptera: Streblidae e Nycteribiidae) em morcegos (Mammalia: Chiroptera) no município de Bacabal - MA

Abstract

Due to the variety of habitats and ecological niches, bats are susceptible to attacks by several ectoparasites. Among these are the flies of the families Streblidae and Nycteribiidae, which are exclusive parasites of bats. In tropical environments, the ecosystem favors the development of ectoparasites on their hosts due to warmer conditions, and little is known about the diversity of these ectoparasites in certain regions of Brazil, as well as their effects on their hosts. The objective of this study was to inventory, characterize and analyze host-parasite relationships, focusing mainly on parasitism rates in urban and peri-urban areas of the municipality of Bacabal. The survey was conducted at nine sampling points around the municipality. Capture nets were installed for 31 nights, from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. The captured bats were identified, and their ectoparasites collected and stored for identification and analysis at the Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Biological and Health Sciences (LAMCBioS). For the analysis of host-parasite associations, prevalence ratios, mean infestation intensity, mean infestation abundance and specificity index were used. Primary host-parasite associations were considered those with high prevalence and mean intensity values, also taking into account data from the literature. Accidental or transitory associations were considered those where the parasite was associated with the host in rare cases, with low prevalence and mean infestation intensity. After a sampling effort of 33,480 m²/h, a total of 220 bat specimens were captured, belonging to 22 species. As for the flies, 153 streblid specimens were collected, belonging to 11 species and seven genera. The following species were recorded: Paradyschiria parvula, Trichobius parasiticus, Trichobius joblingi, Trichobius dugesii, Trichobius longipes, Strebla hertigi, Trichobius costalimai, Trichobioides perspicillatus, Mastoptera minuta, Paratrichobius dunni, and Aspidoptera falcata. Trichobius joblingi was the most abundant species in this study, found on the bat species Carollia perspicillata, while Phyllostomus hastatus showed the greatest richness of dipteran species: Strebla hertigi, Trichobius costalimai, Trichobioides perpicillatus and Trichobius longipes. For the family Nycteribiidae, the genus Basilia presented the highest number of individuals when compared to other studies, and its identification is currently in progress by specialists, aiming for accurate species-level determination. The parasitism rates observed in this study showed that urban areas presented values consistent with those reported in the literature, although considered low compared to other studies. In peri-urban areas, greater richness and abundance were observed, although the parasitism rates did not present significant differences when compared to other studies. Additionally, it is worth noting that the bat Noctilio albiventris was parasitized by Paradyschiria parvula, with no previous records of this association in peri-urban areas, and Paratrichobius dunni in Uroderma bilobatum; previous studies only described this as a primary association, without analyzing parasitism rates. Most associations found in this study corroborate those previously described in the literature. However, some had not been recorded in any study in the state of Maranhão, likely resulting from accidental associations, such as Paradyschiria parvula on Myotis riparius, Mastoptera minuta on Artibeus cinereus and Trichobius joblingi on Noctilio leporinus.