Title
Ectoparasite reproductive activity in relation to host reproduction and dispersal: case of species of nycteribiid fly (Diptera) parasitizing Rousettus madagascariensis (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)
Author(s)
Rajemison, F. I.;Lalarivoniaina, O. S. N.;Andrianarimisa, A.;Goodman, S. M.
Published
2018
Publisher
Revue D Ecologie-La Terre Et La Vie
Abstract
Details are presented on the reproductive biology of a bat fly, Eucampsipoda madagascarensis (Nycteribiidae) parasitizing Rousettus madagascariensis, a fruit bat endemic to Madagascar, specifically to examine possible synchronization of the host-parasite reproductive cycles. Data were collected at a cave in the Parc National d'Ankarana, northern Madagascar, used by the bat species as a day roost site. Rousettus were sampled on five occasions, at the end of the dry season (September 2014, 2015 and 2016), corresponding to its mating period, and during the rainy season (January 2015 and 2016), coinciding with the birth season and lactation period. The only nycteribiid fly identified from captured R. madagascariensis (n = 1030) was E. madagascarensis (n = 5201). Female flies were gravid during both seasons. During the bat mating period (dry season), gravid female flies showed no preference for hosts in reproductive or non-reproductive states. During the lactation period (rainy season), gravid flies disproportionately parasitized lactating females. During the mating period, as compared to the lactation period, male bats with scrotal testes were more parasitized by gravid flies than those with abdominal testes. These observations are discussed in relationship to shifts in host physiological states between these two seasonal periods and ectoparasite reproduction strategies. No evidence was found of expanded fly reproductive activity during the period it is presumed that this fruit bat disperses.
Keywords
mite spinturnix-myoti;flies diptera;bats;nycteribiidae;costs;specificity;performance;energetics;intensity;cycle;Environmental Sciences & Ecology
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PUB24423