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New host and distribution records of bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae, Nycteribiidae) on cave-dwelling bats from Bohol Island, Philippines

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A Correction to this article was published on 16 November 2021

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Abstract

Studies on the relationship between host species and ectoparasites are limited on small oceanic islands such as the Philippine archipelago, particularly between bat species and their associated ectoparasites. Prior to our study, only a single bat fly species (Leptocyclopodia simulans), a wingless species in the family Nycteribiidae, was reported on Bohol Island located in the central Philippines. We report additional records of nycteribiid bat fly species collected from cave-dwelling bats on Bohol Island. We also report the first records of winged bat flies in the family Streblidae as well as new distribution records for Brachytarsina amboinensis, B. cucullata, B. werneri, Megastrebla parvior, Raymondia pagodarum, R. pseudopagodarum, Eucampsipoda inermis, E. sundaica, Nycteribia allotopa, N. allotopoides, N. parvula, and Penicillidia acuminata on Bohol Island. In addition to documenting new distribution records of nycteribiid and streblid bat flies in the Philippines, we also report new host records for some bat fly species. This includes the first record of B. amboinensis collected on Taphozous melanopogon (Black-bearded tomb bat), B. werneri on Miniopterus tristis (Great bent-winged bat), and R. pagodarum on Hipposideros pygmaeus (Philippine pygmy roundleaf bat). Our study highlights the undocumented relationships that exist between bats and bat flies, and warrants further investigation particularly in understudied island systems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines for permission to conduct this study (permit no. 2011-04, 2013-02). We are especially grateful to all those that assisted with fieldwork, most of whom were undergraduate students as well as Bohol Island State University for lodging and transportation during portions of this project. The study was supported by U.S. Department of State – Fulbright Fellowship, Bat Conservation International, American Philosophical Society, The Explorers Club, American Society of Mammalogists, National Speleological Society, Cave Research Foundation, John Ball Zoo, Sigma Xi, and Texas Tech Association of Biologists (KLP). We thank Dr. Marina Fisher-Phelps for creating map of sampling sites (Fig. 1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biodiversity Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Nangang District, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan

    Ace Kevin S. Amarga

  2. School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University- Gongguan Campus, Wenshan District, Taipei, 11677, Taiwan

    Ace Kevin S. Amarga

  3. Royal Belgian Entomological Society, Rue Vautier 29, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Ace Kevin S. Amarga

  4. EcoHealth Alliance, New York City, NY, 10018, USA

    Kendra L. Phelps

  5. Southeast Asian Bat Conservation Research Unit, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA

    Kendra L. Phelps

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  1. Ace Kevin S. Amarga
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Correspondence to Ace Kevin S. Amarga.

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The original version of this article was revised: the reference for Amarga et al. (2017) and the in-text citations were missing.

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Amarga, A.K.S., Phelps, K.L. New host and distribution records of bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae, Nycteribiidae) on cave-dwelling bats from Bohol Island, Philippines. Int J Trop Insect Sci 41, 3213–3222 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-021-00584-7

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