Finding the Right Host in the Darkness of the Cave-New Insights into the Ecology and Spatio-temporal Dynamics of Hyperparasitic Fungi (Arthrorhynchus nycteribiae, Laboulbeniales).

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to determine the presence of the hyperparasitic fungus Arthrorhynchus nycteribiae and to analyze its spatio-temporal pattern in the two bat flies (Penicillidia conspicua and P. dufourii) parasitizing on bats. We collected 612 samples of bat flies from 400 bats in 20 caves in the Central Balkans. Hyperparasite was identified based on morphological and molecular analyses of rDNA genes (LSU and SSU). A. nycteribiae was reported for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, and confirmed in Serbia. Of the 20 sites examined, we found A. nycteribiae at 11 sites. The prevalence of A. nycteribiae infection in the bats examined was approximately 17%. Miniopterus schreibersii harbored the highest number of bat flies and was the only bat species hosting the in

SUBMITTER: Burazerovic J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11976334 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature