Bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae) ectoparasites of bats at an Atlantic Rainforest site in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Bat flies were surveyed between March, 2007 and February, 2008, in the Carnijó Private Natural Heritage Reserve (08° 07' S and 35° 05' W), an area of Atlantic Rainforest in the municipality of Moreno, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Bats were captured biweekly using mist nets set during six hours each night. The ectoparasites were collected with tweezers and/or a brush wet in ethanol and stored in 70% ethanol. The specimens are deposited in the zoological reference collection of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul. Sixteen species of streblid bat flies were collected from 10 bat species of the family Phyllostomidae. Thirteen of the these streblid species were recorded for the first time in Pernambuco.