Interactions Between Bats and Their Ectoparasitic Flies: A Multimethod Study in the Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 25/10452-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 20, 2025
• End date: December 19, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology
• Principal Investigator: Karin Kirchgatter Hildebrand
• Grantee: Bruno da Silva Mathias
• Supervisor: Josue Martinez de La Puente
• Host Institution: Instituto Pasteur (IP). Coordenadoria de Controle de Doenças (CCD). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/16230-7 - Haemosporidian parasites (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida) in bats and hematophagous flies from Brazil: diversity and phylogeny, BP.DR

Abstract

Interactions between bats and their ectoparasitic flies (Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) represent complex ecological systems that can reflect biodiversity, community structure, and coevolutionary processes. This study investigates these interactions in areas of the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil through a multimethod approach that includes specimen collection, morphological and molecular identification of ectoparasites, as well as ecological and phylogenetic analyses. Samples were obtained between 2015 and 2019, covering different locations and seasons of the year. A total of 15 fly species were recorded, associated with 9 bat species, showing a high degree of host specificity. The use of molecular methods, such as sequencing of mitochondrial genes cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) and cytochrome b (cytb), allowed the identification of some fly species and the detection of potential new lineages of haemosporidians (Polychromophilus spp.) in some of them. The project aims to expand the systematic and evolutionary analyses of host-ectoparasite interactions, focusing on coevolution, specialization, and modularity in ecological networks, while taking into account the phylogeny of host bats and their blood-feeding flies. These steps will deepen our understanding of the ecological and historical factors shaping these associations, providing a foundation for integrative studies in eco-epidemiology involving host-vector-parasite relationships in tropical environments.