The intestinal nematode fauna of bats of the genus Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Serbia

Abstract

Bats are the only true flying mammals, and their capacity for flight has contributed to their worldwide distribution. Consequently, they have important functional roles in terrestrial ecosystems in general. These mammals are reliable bioindicators of the condition of the environments they inhabit and have a regulatory effect on the abundance of crepuscular and nocturnal insects. Many species of bats feed on insects that are either vectors of pathogens that cause diseases of animals and people, or agricultural pests that inflict grave economic losses. The endoparasitic helminths of bats have attracted relatively little attention from parasitologists; therefore, the aim of this study is to contribute to the knowledge on the intestinal Nematodes of Myotis bats in Serbia. We investigated the helminth fauna of 65 individual bats belonging to five different species of the genus Myotis (M. mystacinus, M. alcathoe, M. brandtii, M. blythii, M. myotis). The hosts were sampled from ten sites on the territory of Serbia. Four nematode species were identified: Molinostrongylus alatus, Capillaria neopulchra, Physaloptera sp. and Rictularia bovieri. Intestinal Nematodes infected 48 host individuals, resulting in a prevalence of 73.8%. Molinostrongylus alatus had the highest prevalence (64.6%) and mean abundance (8.2). None of the registered nematode species have zoonotic potential.