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Parasites in peril: abundance of batflies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) declines along an urbanisation gradient

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Abstract

Urbanisation has a wide range of impacts on biodiversity, but its effects on parasitic arthropods, particularly those of bats, remain poorly studied. Ectoparasites of the large-footed myotis (Myotis macropus) in eastern Australia were sampled from 10 roost sites across an urban gradient. In total, 265 bats were examined and 447 ectoparasites were collected, comprising three species of Hippoboscoidea: Basilia hamsmithi (Nycteribiidae), Penicillidia setosala (Nycteribiidae), Brachytarsina amboinensis (Streblidae), and an acarine, Spinturnix novaehollandiae (Mesostigmata, Spinturnicidae). Degree of urbanisation was found to have a significant effect on the abundance of the batfly B. hamsmithi but had no significant effect on the abundance of the wing mite S. novaehollandiae. We hypothesise that this is due to differences in the life history of these two species and the advantage components of these differences confer in exploiting variations in host roost habits. The prevalence of the batfly B. hamsmithi was high in urban sites but comparatively low in suburban and non-urban sites. Mass, sex, and body condition were found to have no significant impact on either the parasite load or the chance of infestation. Both P. setosala and B. amboinensis were recorded from M. macropus for the first time, though only in small numbers. They were associated with mixed-species roosts in a suburban site and are evidence of parasite spillover between sympatric bat species.

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Acknowledgements

We kindly thank Dr. Allen Heath, AgResearch, New Zealand, for reading the manuscript and providing invaluable comments.

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  1. Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, 117558, Singapore, Republic of Singapore

    Mackenzie L. Kwak

  2. School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, 4001, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Vanessa Gorecki

  3. School of Mathematics, Monash University, 9 Rainforest Walk, 3800, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Gregory Markowsky

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  1. Mackenzie L. Kwak
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  2. Vanessa Gorecki
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  3. Gregory Markowsky
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Correspondence to Mackenzie L. Kwak.

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

figure a

GLM showing the relationship between dependent variables and independent variables across the three urbanisation classes (A) host body mass and infestation rate of S. novaehollandiae, (B) host body condition and infestation rate of S. novaehollandiae, (C) host body condition and chance of infestation by S. novaehollandiae, (D) host body mass and chance of infestation by S. novaehollandiae, (E) host body mass and infestation rate of B. hamsmithi, (F) host body condition and infestation rate of B. hamsmithi, (G) host body condition and chance of infestation by B. hamsmithi, (H) host body mass and chance of infestation by B. hamsmithi. (Solid black for females and dashed red for males)

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Kwak, M.L., Gorecki, V. & Markowsky, G. Parasites in peril: abundance of batflies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) declines along an urbanisation gradient. J Insect Conserv 26, 627–638 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-022-00409-z

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