Asia and Europe: So Distant So Close? The Case of Lipoptena fortisetosa in Italy

Abstract

In Europe, 5 <i>Lipoptena</i> species have been recorded, including <i>Lipoptena fortisetosa</i>. This species, native to Asian countries, was described as a parasite of sika deer and its appearance in Europe dates back to more than 50 years ago. <i>Lipoptena fortisetosa</i> has been recently reported in Italy, sharing its hosts with <i>Lipoptena cervi</i>. A morpho-molecular approach was developed to determine the phylogenetic interrelationship of Italian and Asian <i>CO</i>1 haplotypes sequenced from Lipoptena fly individuals collected in Italy, and their DNA sequences were compared with conspecifics available in GenBank; morphological key-characters (terminalia) of <i>L. fortisetosa</i> were compared with the original description. Two haplotypes were recorded from Italy and assigned to <i>L. cervi</i> and <i>L. fortisetosa</i>, respectively. The latter was part of the monophyletic clade <i>L. fortisetosa</i>, along with 2 Central European and 2 Korean haplotypes (100% identical with one of the Korean haplotypes); moreover, Italian <i>L. fortisetosa</i> female terminalia were consistent with the original description of Asian individuals. Pending more in-depth investigations, this study provides a first answer to the hypothesis of the recent colonization of Italy by <i>L. fortisetosa</i> from Asia as we did not detect any obvious and stable morphological and molecular differences in specimens from the 2 geographical areas. The presence of the sika deer in Europe was retraced and the possible route traveled by the parasite from Asia and the eco-biological factors that may have enhanced its settlement are discussed.

Analysis of the bacterial communities associated with pupae and winged or wingless adults ofLipoptena fortisetosacollected from cervids in Italy

“…There was also a higher diversity of bacterial composition in L. fortisetosa compared to L. cervi in Germany (Regier et al, 2018). This could be explained considering that L. fortisetosa has been quite recently introduced into Europe from its native area, likely transported by C. nippon moving through Asian countries (Andreani et al, 2020). Thus, the ectoparasite might have acquired a variety of microorganisms that formed a higher microbial diversity.…”

“…Allochthonous cervids may be responsible for the dissemination of their ectoparasites, which in turn can spread zoonotic pathogens to new territories (Boulinier et al, 2001). Lipoptena fortisetosa is continuously dispersing in Europe where it seems to have been introduced via its original host, Sika deer Cervus nippon Temminck, 1838 (Andreani et al, 2020). To date, the possible vectorial capacity of this fly has not been thoroughly studied in Italy, but the biological and behavioural characteristics of this species make it a potentially suitable reservoir for the multiplication and transmission of etiological pathogens to hosts (Bezerra‐Santos & Otranto, 2020).…”

Distribution of Deer Keds (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) in Free-Living Cervids of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, Central Italy, and Establishment of the Allochthonous Ectoparasite Lipoptena fortisetosa

“…However, the possible hybridization between sika and red deer, or the translocation of C. elaphus-related subspecies to Europe cannot be ignored. Currently, C. nippon is recorded in 20 European countries, while L. fortisetosa is present in 13 European countries [67]. In Italy, a great increase in cervid abundance has been recorded in recent years, and the presence of C. nippon has been recently documented [3,5].…”