A study of Seasonal variations of Ectoparasite abundance in Schreibers’ Bent-winged bat <i>Miniopterus schreibersii</i> (Kuhl, 1817) in Serbia

Abstract

Ectoparasites exhibit seasonal fluctuations that are often related to the life cycles of their hosts. The aim of this study was to analyse the seasonal ectoparasite patterns in <i>Miniopterus schreibersii</i>. In 889 individuals of the host, 12 species of ectoparasites were identified, of which the most numerous were <i>Spinturnix psi</i>, <i>Nycteribia schmidli</i>, <i>Penicillidia conspiicua</i> and <i>Ixodes simplex</i>. In this study, the prevalence of infection of <i>M. schreibersii</i> with ectoparasites is 94.48\%, while the mean intensity of infection is 0.97\%. We used the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test to examine variation in ectoparasite abundance by host traits and a generalized linear model (GLM) to analyze the effects of host traits and seasonality on ectoparasite abundance. According to our results, there is a statistically significant effect of host sex and stage of life cycle on the total number of ectoparasites. Female hosts have a higher total number of all ectoparasites than male hosts. During the summer season, the total number of ectoparasites is higher, while the number of ectoparasites is lowest in the fall. GLM revealed significant effects of host sex, age and season on the frequency of <i>I. simplex</i> and <i>S. psi</i>. There is a statistically strong effect of the season on the number of <i>N. schmidli</i>, the highest number is in adult host females in the summer season. <i>P. conspicua</i> abundance showed no seasonal dependency. <i>N. schmidlii</i> is the most abundant parasite in the fall and summer seasons, while <i>S. psi</i> is the dominant parasite in the spring season. Host pregnancy contributes significantly to the increase in numbers of <i>I. simplex</i> and <i>N. schmidli</i> in spring. Understanding the ectoparasite dynamics of bats is crucial for bat conservation and public health, as these parasites and their pathogens can harm bat populations and serve as reservoirs for zoonotic diseases.