Nycteribiidae Explained
Nycteribiidae is a family of the true fly superfamily Hippoboscoidea. Together with their close relatives the Streblidae, they are known as "bat flies". As the latter do not seem to be a monophyletic group, it is conceivable that bat flies cannot be united into a single family.[1]
They are flattened, spiderlike flies without eyes or wings, and as such bear very little resemblance to other Dipterans. These flies are seldom encountered by general collectors, as they almost never leave the bodies of their hosts. Both males and females take blood meals, thus qualifying as parasites. Most species are highly host-specific. The family is primarily found in the Old World tropics; a few of the 274 known species occur in the Neotropics and in Europe.
General
- Subfamily Archinycteribiinae Maa, 1975
- Archinycteribia Speiser, 1901
- Subfamily Cyclopodiinae Maa, 1965
- Leptocyclopodia Theodor, 1959
- Subfamily Nycteribiinae Westwood, 1835
- Hershkovitzia Guimarães & d'Andretta, 1956
- Phthiridium Hermann, 1804
Morphology
One of the key morphological features of Nycteribiidae is their highly reduced compound eyes. Many species of Nycteribiidae contain no visible eyes or contain only rudimentary eye spots. None of the species contain wings. They have backward folded legs that resemble those of spiders and a dorsally inserted head.[2]
Further reading
- Book: Dick, C. W., & Patterson, B. D.. Micromammals and Macroparasites. Bat flies: Obligate ectoparasites of bats . Springer. 2006. Tokyo. 179–194. 10.1007/978-4-431-36025-4_11. 9784431360247 . https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-4-431-36025-4_11.
- Bertola, P.B.. Aires, C.C.. Favorito, S.E.. Graciolli, G.. Amaku, M.. Pinto-da-Rocha, R.. amp. 2005. Bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae, Nycteribiidae) parasitic on bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) at Parque Estadual da Cantareira, São Paulo, Brazil: parasitism rates and host-parasite associations. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. 100. 1. 25–32. 10.1590/S0074-02762005000100005. 15867959. free.
- Graciolli, G.. Moura, M.O.. amp. 2005. Basilia quadrosae sp. nov. (Diptera: Nycteribiidae), member of the ferruginea group, from southern Brazil. Zootaxa. 1087. 33–38. PDF excerpt. 10.11646/zootaxa.1087.1.2.
- Graciolli, G.. Passos, F.C.. Pedro, W.A.. Lim, B.K.. amp. 200. Records of Streblidae and Nycteribiidae (Diptera) on vespertilionid bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from São Paulo State, Brazil. Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 110. 3. 402–404. 10.1664/0028-7199(2002)110[402:ROSAND]2.0.CO;2. 86335986 . HTML abstract
- Graciolli, G.. Dick, C.W.. Gettinger, D.. amp. 2006. A faunal survey of nycteribiid flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) associated with bats in Paraguay. Zootaxa. 1220. 35–46. 10.11646/zootaxa.1220.1.3.
- Graciolli, G.. Autino, A.G.. Claps, G.L.. amp. 2007. Catalogue of American Nycteribiidae (Diptera, Hippoboscoidea). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia. 51. 2. 142–159. 10.1590/S0085-56262007000200004. free.
- Haelewaters, D., Pfliegler, W. P., Szentiványi, T., Földvári, M., Sándor, A. D., Barti, L., ... & Dick, C. W.. 2017. Parasites of parasites of bats: Laboulbeniales (Fungi: Ascomycota) on bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) in central Europe.. Parasites & Vectors. 10. 1. 96. 10.1186/s13071-017-2022-y. 28222795. 5320862 . free .
- Szentiványi T., Estók P., Földvári M.. 2016. Checklist of host associations of European bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae, Streblidae).. Zootaxa. 4205. 2. 101–126. 10.11646/zootaxa.4205.2.1. 27988583. 21118030 .
External links
Notes and References
- Frederik Torp Petersen . Rudolf Meier . Sujatha Narayanan Kutty . Brian M. Wiegmann . 2007 . The phylogeny and evolution of host choice in the Hippoboscoidea (Diptera) as reconstructed using four molecular markers . . 45 . 1 . 111–122 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2007.04.023 . 17583536.
- Kirk-Spriggs, Ashley H., Marion Kotrba, and Robert S. Copeland. "Further details of the morphology of the enigmatic African fly Mormotomyia hirsuta Austen (Diptera: Mormotomyiidae)." African Invertebrates 52.1 (2011): 145-165.
