Prevalence of bat ectoparasites on sympatric Myotis lucifugus and M. septentrionalis was quantitatively characterized in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by making systematic collections at swarming sites. Six species of ectoparasite were recorded, including Myodopsylla insignis, Spinturnix americanus, Cimex adjunctus, Macronyssu scrosbyi, Androlaelap scasalis, and an unknown species of the genus Acanthophthirius. Male M. lucifugus and M. septentrionalis had similar prevalence of any ectoparasite (22% and 23%, resp.). Female M. lucifugus and M. septentrionalis had 2-3 times higher prevalence than did conspecific males (68% and 44%, resp.). Prevalence of infection of both genders of young of the year was not different from one another and the highest prevalence of any ectoparasite (M. lucifugus 64%, M. septentrionalis 72%) among all bat groups. Ectoparasite prevalence and intensity varied positively with roost group size and negatively with grooming efficacy and energy budgets, suggesting that these variables may be important in ectoparasite community structure. 1. Introduction It is important to understand the species richness, size, and life history of ectoparasite populations to understand the biology of the host species because of the potential for ectoparasites to impact host fitness [1]. Ectoparasites are present on almost all species of mammals, including bats [2]. Most ectoparasites of bats show strong coevolutionary ties to their hosts because they never or only briefly leave the host [3–6]. Many ectoparasites are present on hosts year-round whereas others only during critical stages of the host’s life cycle such as gestation or lactation. Ectoparasites may also affect host fitness, and, as expected, a strong negative correlation was found between the number of Spinturnix psi on the bent-wing bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) and the host’s body condition [1]. Prevalence and intensity of ectoparasites on other small mammals and birds can vary according to several life history characteristics of the host [7, 8]. Myotis lucifugus and M. septentrionalis have several life history differences (e.g., roost group size and roost site preference), which may affect the ectoparasite community structure [9]. The little brown bat (M. lucifugus) regularly uses human-made structures as summer maternity roosts while the northern long-eared bat (M. septentrionalis) typically roosts in trees [10–14]. Little brown bats show high roost fidelity and often remain in the same roost all summer while northern long-eared bats do not show the same fidelity and often change
References
[1]
S. I. Louren？o and J. M. Palmeirim, “Can mite parasitism affect the condition of bat hosts? Implications for the social structure of colonial bats,” Journal of Zoology, vol. 273, no. 2, pp. 161–168, 2007.
[2]
C. M. Ritzi and J. O. Whitaker, “Ectoparasites of small mammals from the Newport Chemical Depot, Vermillion County, Indiana,” Northeastern Naturalist, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 149–158, 2003.
[3]
R. K. Lu？an, “Relationships between the parasitic mite Spinturnix andegavinus (Acari: Spinturnicidae) and its bat host, Myotis daubentonii (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae): seasonal, sex- and age-related variation in infestation and possible impact of the parasite on the host condition and roosting behaviour,” Folia Parasitologica, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 147–152, 2006.
[4]
P. Christe, O. Glaizot, G. Evanno et al., “Host sex and ectoparasites choice: preference for, and higher survival on female hosts,” Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 703–710, 2007.
[5]
C. W. Dick, “High host specificity of obligate ectoparasites,” Ecological Entomology, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 446–450, 2007.
[6]
N. Bruyndonckx, S. Dubey, M. Ruedi, and P. Christe, “Molecular cophylogenetic relationships between European bats and their ectoparasitic mites (Acari, Spinturnicidae),” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 227–237, 2009.
[7]
S. Morand, J. Goüy De Bellocq, M. Stanko, and D. Miklisová, “Is sex-biased ectoparasitism related to sexual size dimorphism in small mammals of Central Europe?” Parasitology, vol. 129, no. 4, pp. 505–510, 2004.
[8]
P. S. Fitze, B. Tschirren, and H. Richner, “Life history and fitness consequences of ectoparasites,” Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 216–226, 2004.
[9]
H. M. ter Hofstede and M. B. Fenton, “Relationships between roost prefecences, ectoparasite density, and grooming behavior of neotropical bats,” Journal of Zoology, vol. 266, pp. 333–340, 2005.
[10]
W. H. Davis and H. B. Hitchcock, “Biology and migration of the bat, Myotis lucifugus, in New England,” Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 46, pp. 296–313, 1965.
[11]
M. B. Fenton and R. M. R. Barclay, “Myotislucifugus,” Mammalian Species, vol. 142, pp. 1–8, 1980.
[12]
R. W. Foster and A. Kurta, “Roosting ecology of the northern bat (Myotis septentrionalis) and comparisons with the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis),” Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 659–672, 1999.
[13]
H. G. Broders and G. J. Forbes, “Interspecific and intersexual variation in roost-site selection of northern long-eared and little brown bats in the greater fundy national park ecosystem,” Journal of Wildlife Management, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 602–610, 2004.
[14]
M. J. Lacki, D. R. Cox, and M. B. Dickinson, “Meta-analysis of summer roosting characteristics of two species of myotis bats,” American Midland Naturalist, vol. 162, no. 2, pp. 318–326, 2009.
[15]
S. E. Lewis, “Roost fidelity of bats: a review,” Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 76, no. 2, pp. 481–496, 1995.
[16]
C. J. Garroway and H. G. Broders, “Nonrandom association patterns at northern long-eared bat maternity roosts,” Canadian Journal of Zoology, vol. 85, no. 9, pp. 956–964, 2007.
[17]
J. B. Johnson, J. W. Edwards, W. M. Ford, and J. E. Gates, “Roost tree selection by northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) maternity colonies following prescribed fire in a Central Appalachian Mountains hardwood forest,” Forest Ecology and Management, vol. 258, no. 3, pp. 233–242, 2009.
[18]
E. L. P. Anthony, M. H. Stack, and T. H. Kunz, “Night roosting and the nocturnal time budget of the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus: effects of reproductive status, prey density, and environmental conditions,” Oecologia, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 151–156, 1981.
[19]
I. M. Cote and R. Poulin, “Parasitism and group size in social animals: a meta-analysis,” Behavioral Ecology, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 159–165, 1995.
[20]
C. W. Dick, M. R. Gannon, W. E. Little, and M. J. Patrick, “Ectoparasite Associations of Bats from Central Pennsylvania,” Journal of Medical Entomology, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 813–819, 2003.
[21]
J. A. Poissant and H. G. Broders, “Ectoparasite prevalence in Myotis lucifugus and M. septentrionalis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) during fall migration at Hayes Cave, Nova Scotia,” Northeastern Naturalist, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 515–522, 2008.
[22]
A. Rudnick, “A revision of the mites of the family Spinturnicidae (Acarina),” University of California Publications in Entomology, vol. 17, pp. 157–284, 1960.
[23]
P. Christe, R. Arlettaz, and P. Vogel, “Variation in intensity of a parasitic mite (Spinturnix myoti) in relation to the reproductive cycle and immunocompetence of its bat host (Myotis myotis),” Ecology Letters, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 207–212, 2000.
[24]
J. O. Whitaker Jr., Ectoparasites of Mammals of Indiana, Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis, Ind, USA, 1982.
[25]
K. Reckardt and G. Kerth, “Does the mode of transmission between hosts affect the host choice strategies of parasites? Implications from a field study on bat fly and wing mite infestation of Bechstein's bats,” Oikos, vol. 118, no. 2, pp. 183–190, 2009.
[26]
M. R. Gannon and M. R. Willig, “Ecology of ectoparasites from tropical bats,” Environmental Entomology, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 1495–1503, 1995.
[27]
E. de Fanis and G. Jones, “Post-natal growth, mother-infant interactions and development of vocalizations in the vespertilionid bat Plecotus auritus,” Journal of Zoology, vol. 235, no. 1, pp. 85–97, 1995.
[28]
M. S. Giorgi, R. Arlettaz, P. Christe, and P. Vogel, “The energetic grooming costs imposed by a parasitic mite (Spinturnix myoti) upon its bat host (Myotis myotis),” Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 268, no. 1480, pp. 2071–2075, 2001.
[29]
S. A. Smith and M. E. Clay, “Biological and morphological studies on the bat flea, Myodopsylla insignis (Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae),” Journal of Medical Entomology, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 413–424, 1988.
[30]
R. S. Prasad, “Host dependency among haematophagous insects: a case study on flea-host association,” Proceedings: Animal Sciences, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 349–360, 1987.
[31]
M. Rothschild and R. Ford, “Factors influencing the breeding of the rabbit flea (Spilopsylluscuniculi): a spring-time accelerator and a kairomone in nestling rabbit urine (with notes on Cediopsylla simplex, another ‘hormonebound’ species),” Journal of Zoology, vol. 170, pp. 87–137, 1973.
[32]
M. Rothschild, “The rabbit flea and hormones,” Endeavour, vol. 24, no. 93, pp. 162–168, 1965.
[33]
N. A. Wilson and T. D. Galloway, “The occurrence of the bat bug, Cimexpiloselluspilosellus (Horváth) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), in Manitoba, Canada,” Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Manitoba, vol. 58, pp. 5–7, 2002.
[34]
W. K. Reeves, A. D. Loftis, J. A. Gore, and G. A. Dasch, “Molecular evidencefor novel Bartonellaspecies in Trichobius major (Diptera: Streblidae) and Cimexadjunctus (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) from two southeastern bat caves,” U. S. A. Journal of Vector Ecology, vol. 30, pp. 339–341, 2005.
[35]
T. Bartonicka and J. Gailsler, “Seasonal dynamics in the numbers of parasitic bugs (Heteroptera, Cimicidae): a possible cause of roost switching in bats (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae),” Parasitology Research, vol. 100, pp. 1323–1330, 2007.
[36]
D. W. Thomas, M. Brock Fenton, and R. M. R. Barclay, “Social behavior of the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus - I. Mating behavior,” Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 129–136, 1979.
[37]
R. L. Usinger, Monograph of Cimicidae, vol. 7, Entomological Society of America, Thomas Say Foundation, 1966.
[38]
L. S. Roberts and J. Janovy Jr., Gerald D. Schmidt & Larry S. Roberts’ Foundations of Parasitology, McGraw-Hill Companies, Boston, Mass, USA, 6th edition, 2000.
[39]
R. R. Sokaland and F. J. Rohlf, Biometry: The Principles and Practice of Statistics in Biological research, W. H. Freeman and Co., New York, NY, USA, 3rd edition, 1995.
[40]
J. Sebastián Tello, R. D. Stevens, and C. W. Dick, “Patterns of species co-occurrence and density compensation: a test for interspecific competition in bat ectoparasite infracommunities,” Oikos, vol. 117, no. 5, pp. 693–702, 2008.
[41]
W. K. Reisen, M. L. Kennedy, and N. T. Reisen, “Winter ecology of ectoparasites collected from hibernating Myotis velifer (Allen) in Southwestern Oklahoma (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae),” Journal of Parasitology, vol. 62, no. 4, pp. 628–635, 1976.
[42]
J. O. Whitaker Jr. and D. A. Easterla, “Ectoparasites of bats from Big Bend National Park, Texas,” Southwestern Naturalist, vol. 20, pp. 241–254, 1975.
[43]
F. J. Radovsky, “The evolution of parasitism and the distribution of some dermanyssoid mites (Mesostigmata) on vertebrate hosts,” in Mites. Ecological and Evolutionary Analyze of Life-History Patterns, M. A. Houck, Ed., pp. 187–217, Chapman & Hall, NewYork, NY, USA, 1994.
[44]
P. S. Barker, “Bionomics of Androlaelapscasalis (Berlese) (Acarina: Laelapidae), a predator of mite pests of stored cereals,” Canadian Journal of Zoology, vol. 46, pp. 1099–1102, 1968.
[45]
R. N. Sinha and H. A. H. Wallace, “Population dynamics of stored-product mites,” Oecologia, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 315–327, 1973.
[46]
N. G. Emmanouel, C. T. Buchelos, and C. T. E. Dukidis, “A survey on the mites of stored grain in Greece,” Journal of Stored Products Research, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 175–178, 1994.
[47]
S. Rosen, I. Yeruhamand, and Y. Braverman, “Dermatitis in humans associated with the mites Pyemotestritici, Dermanyssusgallinae, Ornithonyssusbacoti and Androlaelapscasalis in Israel,” Medical and Veterinary Entomology, vol. 16, pp. 442–444, 2002.
[48]
D. J. McKinley, “The morphology and biology of Haemolaelapscasalis Berlese (Acarina; Mesotigmata),” Annals and Magazine of Natural History, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 65–76, 1963.
[49]
A. Fain and J. O. Whitaker Jr., “Notes on the genus Acanthophthirius Perkins in North America (Acarina: Myobiidae),” Bulletin et Annales de la Societe Royale Belged'Entomologie, vol. 112, pp. 127–143, 1976.
