Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Understanding the interactions between bat flies and host bats offer us fundamental insights into the coevolutionary and ecological processes in host-parasite relationships. Here, we investigated the identities, host specificity, and patterns of host association of bat flies in a subtropical region in East Asia, which is an understudied region for bat fly research.
METHODS: We used both morphological characteristics and DNA barcoding to identify the bat fly species found on 11 cavernicolous bat species from five bat families inhabiting Hong Kong. We first determined the phylogenetic relationships among bat fly species. Then, we elucidated the patterns of bat-bat fly associations and calculated the host specificity of each bat fly species. Furthermore, we assembled the mitogenomes of three bat fly species from two families (Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) to contribute to the limited bat fly genetic resources available.
RESULTS: We examined 641 individuals of bat flies and found 20 species, of which many appeared to be new to science. Species of Nycteribiidae included five Nycteribia spp., three Penicillidia spp., two Phthiridium spp., one Basilia sp., and one species from a hitherto unknown genus, whereas Streblidae included Brachytarsina amboinensis, three Raymondia spp., and four additional Brachytarsina spp. Our bat-bat fly association network shows that certain closely related bat flies within Nycteribiidae and Streblidae only parasitized host bat species that are phylogenetically more closely related. For example, congenerics of Raymondia only parasitized hosts in Rhinolophus and Hipposideros, which are in two closely related families in Rhinolophoidea, but not other distantly related co-roosting species. A wide spectrum of host specificity of these bat fly species was also revealed, with some bat fly species being strictly monoxenous, e.g. nycteribiid Nycteribia sp. A, Phthiridium sp. A, and streblid Raymondia sp. A, while streblid B. amboinensis is polyxenous.
CONCLUSIONS: The bat fly diversity and specificity uncovered in this study have shed light on the complex bat-bat fly ecology in the region, but more bat-parasite association studies are still needed in East Asian regions like China as a huge number of unknown species likely exists. We highly recommend the use of DNA barcoding to support morphological identification to reveal accurate host-ectoparasite relationships for future studies.
METHODS: We used both morphological characteristics and DNA barcoding to identify the bat fly species found on 11 cavernicolous bat species from five bat families inhabiting Hong Kong. We first determined the phylogenetic relationships among bat fly species. Then, we elucidated the patterns of bat-bat fly associations and calculated the host specificity of each bat fly species. Furthermore, we assembled the mitogenomes of three bat fly species from two families (Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) to contribute to the limited bat fly genetic resources available.
RESULTS: We examined 641 individuals of bat flies and found 20 species, of which many appeared to be new to science. Species of Nycteribiidae included five Nycteribia spp., three Penicillidia spp., two Phthiridium spp., one Basilia sp., and one species from a hitherto unknown genus, whereas Streblidae included Brachytarsina amboinensis, three Raymondia spp., and four additional Brachytarsina spp. Our bat-bat fly association network shows that certain closely related bat flies within Nycteribiidae and Streblidae only parasitized host bat species that are phylogenetically more closely related. For example, congenerics of Raymondia only parasitized hosts in Rhinolophus and Hipposideros, which are in two closely related families in Rhinolophoidea, but not other distantly related co-roosting species. A wide spectrum of host specificity of these bat fly species was also revealed, with some bat fly species being strictly monoxenous, e.g. nycteribiid Nycteribia sp. A, Phthiridium sp. A, and streblid Raymondia sp. A, while streblid B. amboinensis is polyxenous.
CONCLUSIONS: The bat fly diversity and specificity uncovered in this study have shed light on the complex bat-bat fly ecology in the region, but more bat-parasite association studies are still needed in East Asian regions like China as a huge number of unknown species likely exists. We highly recommend the use of DNA barcoding to support morphological identification to reveal accurate host-ectoparasite relationships for future studies.
摘要：
背景：了解蝙蝠蝇和寄主蝙蝠之间的相互作用为我们提供了对寄主-寄生虫关系中的共同进化和生态过程的基本见解。这里,我们调查了身份,宿主特异性，以及东亚亚热带地区蝙蝠蝇寄主协会的模式，这是蝙蝠蝇研究的一个研究不足的地区。
方法：我们使用形态特征和DNA条形码来鉴定在居住在香港的五个蝙蝠科的11种海绵状蝙蝠上发现的蝙蝠蝇物种。我们首先确定了蝙蝠蝇物种之间的系统发育关系。然后，我们阐明了蝙蝠-蝙蝠蝇关联的模式，并计算了每种蝙蝠蝇的寄主特异性。此外，我们组装了来自两个科（Nycteribiidae和Streblidae）的三种蝙蝠蝇的有丝分裂基因组，以提供有限的蝙蝠蝇遗传资源。
结果：我们检查了641只蝙蝠蝇，发现了20种，其中许多似乎是新的科学。Nycteribiidae的物种包括五个Nycteribia属。,三个青霉属物种。,两种菊属。,一个Basiliasp.,和一个迄今未知的属的物种，而Strebildae则包括了竹子，三个Raymondiaspp.,和四个额外的短肢物种。我们的蝙蝠-蝙蝠蝇关联网络表明，Nycteribiidae和Streblidae中某些密切相关的蝙蝠蝇仅寄生了在系统发育上更密切相关的寄主蝙蝠物种。例如,雷蒙迪亚的同系物仅寄生在犀牛和Hipposideros中的宿主，它们属于犀牛的两个密切相关的家庭，但不是其他远亲的共同栖息物种。还揭示了这些蝙蝠蝇物种的宿主特异性，一些蝙蝠蝇物种是严格单一的，例如NycteribiidNycteribiasp.A,Phiridiumsp.A,和StreblidRaymondiasp.A,而八头草B.amboinensis是多峰的。
结论：本研究发现的蝙蝠蝇多样性和特异性揭示了该地区复杂的蝙蝠蝇生态学，但是，在中国等东亚地区，仍需要更多的蝙蝠-寄生虫关联研究，因为可能存在大量未知物种。我们强烈建议使用DNA条形码来支持形态学鉴定，以揭示准确的宿主-外寄生虫关系，以供将来研究使用。
方法：我们使用形态特征和DNA条形码来鉴定在居住在香港的五个蝙蝠科的11种海绵状蝙蝠上发现的蝙蝠蝇物种。我们首先确定了蝙蝠蝇物种之间的系统发育关系。然后，我们阐明了蝙蝠-蝙蝠蝇关联的模式，并计算了每种蝙蝠蝇的寄主特异性。此外，我们组装了来自两个科（Nycteribiidae和Streblidae）的三种蝙蝠蝇的有丝分裂基因组，以提供有限的蝙蝠蝇遗传资源。
结果：我们检查了641只蝙蝠蝇，发现了20种，其中许多似乎是新的科学。Nycteribiidae的物种包括五个Nycteribia属。,三个青霉属物种。,两种菊属。,一个Basiliasp.,和一个迄今未知的属的物种，而Strebildae则包括了竹子，三个Raymondiaspp.,和四个额外的短肢物种。我们的蝙蝠-蝙蝠蝇关联网络表明，Nycteribiidae和Streblidae中某些密切相关的蝙蝠蝇仅寄生了在系统发育上更密切相关的寄主蝙蝠物种。例如,雷蒙迪亚的同系物仅寄生在犀牛和Hipposideros中的宿主，它们属于犀牛的两个密切相关的家庭，但不是其他远亲的共同栖息物种。还揭示了这些蝙蝠蝇物种的宿主特异性，一些蝙蝠蝇物种是严格单一的，例如NycteribiidNycteribiasp.A,Phiridiumsp.A,和StreblidRaymondiasp.A,而八头草B.amboinensis是多峰的。
结论：本研究发现的蝙蝠蝇多样性和特异性揭示了该地区复杂的蝙蝠蝇生态学，但是，在中国等东亚地区，仍需要更多的蝙蝠-寄生虫关联研究，因为可能存在大量未知物种。我们强烈建议使用DNA条形码来支持形态学鉴定，以揭示准确的宿主-外寄生虫关系，以供将来研究使用。
