Genetic diversity of bat-flies and mites in two cave-dwelling bat species in Serbia

Abstract

Bats (Chiroptera) can differ widely in their social organisaton, from living in small groups to large colonies countng several thousands of individuals. Such ecological differences can lead to drastc discrepancies in the populaton dynamics of parasites they carry. European bat species are infected by a wide range of specialized ectoparasites. Bat flies (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea – fam. Nycteribiidae) and wing-mites (Acari: Mesostgmata - fam. Spinturnicidae) differ strongly in their phenology and life-histories. The objectve of this study was to characterize the species assemblage, genetc diversity and host specifcity of bat flies and mites collected from two cavernicolous bat species commonly found in Serbia, which have different migraton potentals, and can be found both separate and in shared roosts. A total of 219 flies and 205 mite specimens were collected from the common bentwing bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) and greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) at eight localites in Serbia and one in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Flies were morphologically identfed and all samples were sequenced for a single mitochondrial gene (16S in mites and COI in flies), allowing for a comparison of within and between-colony genetc diversity among the dominant ectoparasite species in the sample (Nycteribia schmidlii, Phthiridium biartculatum, Spinturnix psi and Eyndhovenia euryalis). Notably, all ectoparasite species showed marked specifcity towards their primary hosts, even in roosts that were shared by both bat host-species. Additonally, this data consttutes some of the frst reference sequences for commonly used barcoding sequence fragments for several of the investgated species.