Bat parasites (Acari, Anoplura, Cestoda, Diptera, Hemiptera, Nematoda, Siphonaptera, Trematoda) in France (1762-2018): a literature review and contribution to a checklist

Abstract

This paper is a bibliographical survey of records of bat parasites in France (including Corsica) between 1762 and 2018. In total, 237 scientific publications were analysed. They show that bats are infected with a large diversity of endoparasites and ectoparasites. A total of 113 parasite taxa were identified from 27 host species; in addition, six bats were not identified to the species-level. The helminth fauna of bats comprises three species of Cestoda, 15 of Trematoda, and 13 of Nematoda. Acari parasites include 53 species (in addition to 22 invalid species). Finally, insect parasites comprise 13 species of Diptera (bat flies), 12 of Siphonaptera (fleas), 3 of Hemiptera (bugs), and 1 Anoplura species. Bat taxa reported with parasites were Barbastella barbastellus, Eptesicus serotinus, Hypsugo savii, Miniopterus schreibersii, Myotis bechsteinii, M. blythii, M. capaccinii, M. dasycneme, M. daubentonii, M. emarginatus, M. myotis, M. mystacinus, M. nattereri, M. punicus, Nyctalus lasiopterus, N. leisleri, N. noctula, Pipistrellus kuhlii, P. nathusii, P. pipistrellus, Plecotus auritus, P. austriacus, Rhinolophus euryale, R. ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros, R. mehelyi, Tadarida teniotis, Eptesicus sp., Myotis sp., Pipistrellus sp., Plecotus sp., Rhinolophus sp. and the species complex Pipistrellus pipistrellus/kuhlii/nathusii. As regards E. nilssonii, Vespertilio murinus (Particoloured Bat), M. alcathoe, M. escalerai, P. macrobullaris and P. pygmaeus, no records were found. These published field data originated from 72 of the 96 departments in metropolitan France. The most commonly cited were Ardèche, Ariège, Bouches-du-Rhône, Haute-Savoie, Maine-et-Loire, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Pyrénées-Orientales, Sarthe, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.

Keywords: Bibliometry; Chiroptera; Host-parasite associations; Parasite biodiversity.

Figure 1

Number of studies (n = 237) that include bat parasites observed in France since 1760, by decade.

Figure 2

Overview of the 113 generally recognised parasite taxa that are mentioned in the analysed papers (n = 237) per host taxonomic group. Invalid species (n = 22 Acari and 3 Diptera) recorded in the literature, records reported from France without identification to species level (n = 6 Acari; 1 Cestoda; 2 Diptera; 1 Hemiptera; 2 Nematoda and 2 Trematoda) and species only noted as absent (n = 3 Acari and 1 Diptera) are not included here.

Figure 3

Number of recognised species of Acari (n = 53), per host order (n = 4) and genus (n = 23). Invalid species (n = 22 Acari) recorded in the literature (n = 237 papers) and species only noted as absent (n = 3 Acari) are not included here.

Figure 4

Histogram showing the number of studies (n = 237) per host taxon (n = 34; species: 27; complex: 1; genera: 6) during the period 1762–2018.

Figure 5

Study area and the number of publications that include data on parasites of bats in each French administrative region (department).