Eight streblid species were collected from eight phyllostomid bat species, from April to November 1997, at Only one bat species was caught at "CAF -Santa Bárbara", near PERD. Bats were captured at night using mist nets, identified and released after their ectoparasites were removed. Batflies were sampled by brushing the hosts and by using tweezers to capture them on the bats' fur. A voucher collection of streblid flies, preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol, and voucher bat specimens were deposited respectively at Department of Parasitology and Department of Zoology, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.A total of 57 phyllostomid bats belonging to 11 species and 8 genera were captured, as well as 48 streblid flies (5 genera and 8 species). The following hosts and parasites species were collected: bat species -Artibeus fimbriatus Gray, Artibeus lituratus (Ofers), Artibeus obscurus Schinz, Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus), Desmodus rotundus (Geoffroy), Glossophaga soricina Table. All batflies species were associated with a single species of the host, except for P. longicrus and T. joblingi, which were recorded on three bat species. According to A. lituratus and D. rotundus would represent occasional hosts for T. joblingi, which appears to be primarily a parasite of C. perpicillata. On the other hand, as Wenzel and Tipton (1966) discussed, P. longicrus might occur on different stenodermatine hosts at different altitudinal elevations. According to Guerrero (1997), P. longicrus was already reported on several bat species of the genus Artibeus, and on P. lineatus. Contrary to Komeno and Linhares (1999) suggestion, P. lineatus could be considered as a common host for P. longicrus.Fifty per cent of host species harbored only one parasite species, whereas the other half was infested by two streblid species. Probably due to the small sample size, no batflies were found on A. obscurus, P. recifinus and V. pusilla. Although some species of streblid flies had already been reported on A. obscurus and on V. pusilla (Guerrero 1997), there are no records of ectoparasitism on P. recifinus. The associations between C. perspicillata, P. lineatus and S. lilium and their parasites agree with the recent findings of Komeno and Linhares (1999) who also studied batflies from Minas Gerais. Likewise, even though those researchers have examined more bats than we did, in general the total mean abundance of infestation was 0.8 streblid flies per host in both studies (Table). Whitaker and Mumford (1977) had previously recorded two streblid flies species on a single Noctilio leporinus (Linnaeus) (Noctilionidae) at PERD, which were not captured in the present study: Noctiliostrebla aitkeni Wenzel and Paradyschiria fusca Speiser. Therefore, ten batflies species are known so far from PERD. However, this num-

Ectoparasites were recovered from Brazilian bats captured from April to November 1997 at or near Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, State of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Sixty bats were collected, representing three families and 13 species. Five Acari families were recorded: Myobiidae, Trombiculidae, Labidocarpidae, Macronyssidae, and Spinturnicidae. The macronyssid Radfordiella desmodi Radovsky (71 specimens) and the spinturnicid Periglichrus iheringi Oudemans (45 specimens) were the most abundant mite species. They were mainly recorded on Desmodus rotundus (Geoffroy) and Artibeus litratus (Ofers), respectively. Among trombiculid chiggers, the genus Colicus Brennan (55 specimens) was predominant and found mainly on Carollia perspicillata (L.). The current study presents new data about host-parasite relationships and increases the understanding of geographical distribution for some mite and chigger species.

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A criação de unidades de conservação muitas vezes gera conflitos com as comunidades vizinhas que se sentem prejudicadas pela perda de acesso aos recursos naturais e pela frequente falta de valorização da sabedoria tradicional das mesmas. A Educação Ambiental, por ser um processo de aquisição de consciência, conhecimentos, valores, habilidades, experiências e determinação para agir e resolver problemas ambientais, é fundamental para reverter esse cenário. O estudo de percepção ambiental desenvolvido em duas comunidades vizinhas ao Parque Estadual do Rio Preto, localizado na região do Alto Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, diagnosticou os conhecimentos, sentimentos e carências de seus moradores. O diagnóstico mostrou que, de maneira geral, é ausente a visão de que o homem é parte integrante da natureza. Também se verificou que o conhecimento sobre o Parque é limitado, que muitos moradores se sentem prejudicados com sua implantação e que gostariam de receber mais informações e incentivos para visitarem o Parque. As informações obtidas foram utilizadas na elaboração um material educativo em formato de calendário para ampla distribuição entre os moradores das comunidades vizinhas ao Parque. O material, além de transmitir informações úteis, desperta sentimentos de orgulho, pertencimento e admiração pela natureza, aspectos essenciais para a formação de cidadãos mobilizados para a conservação da mesma.