Ectoparasites of Arizona Bats

Abstract

Due to the increasing number of studies of bats in the southwestern United States and the public health problems which these animals present, a compilation of the ectoparasites of the bats that occur in Arizona is deemed appropriate at this time. Bats in their seasonal activities cover large areas, even migrating between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and there is a considerable opportunity for dissemination of their ectoparasites. Notable among these parasites is the tick, Dermacentor andersoni, a known vector of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. We have undertaken a survey of the literature and the collecting of bats in Arizona. In the course of this work over 20,000 bats of various species were checked for parasites by the authors. The bats inspected in this survey were obtained in various ways: by visual inspection of caves, mines and houses for bats; by mist-netting over waterholes and streams, and caves and mines, by shooting isolated bats over waterholes and in caves and mines. The ectoparasites were otbained by the use of K. A. A .D. which was dropped over the more active ectoparasites. This caused their immediate death and greatly facilitated the collecting. All of the specimens were preserved in K. A. A. D. which is a mixture of one part kerosene, two parts glacial acetic acid, ten parts 95% ethyl alcohol and one part dioxane. New state records, host records and several new species were obtained, but no special attempt is made to refer to them in this paper. First reports for the United States are noted for Paratrichobius longkrus, Trichobius mixtus and T ecomatlana sandovali. All of these ectoparasites were taken from bats collected in Arizona.

Ectoparasites in an Urban Population of Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus Fuscus) in Colorado

“…Ectoparasite studies of other species of bats in the western United States have been conducted in California (Krutzsch, 1955), Arizona (Bradshaw and Ross, 1961;Ritzi, Valdez, and Sparks, 2002), Oregon (Whitaker et al, 1983;Lewis, 1996), New Mexico (Steinlein et al, 2001;Ritzi, Valdez, and Sparks, 2002), and Montana (Lausen, 2005). However, only a few focused on big brown bats, and just 2 of these studied the dynamics of ectoparasites of bats living in human-occupied buildings (Dood, 1987;Durden et al, 1992).…”

Diversity and ecology of the macro-invertebrate fauna (Nemata and Arthropoda) of Kartchner Caverns, Cochise County, Arizona, United States of America

“…This soft tick species has been found on M. velifer and several other bat species in the southwestern United States (Bradshaw and Ross 1961;Dooley et al 1976). We observed C. yumatensis on six occasions during the recent study.…”

“…No adults were found, and the larvae have not been positively identified to species. However, of the 11 species of bat fleas recorded from North America, only Myodopsylla collinsi has been recorded from the cave myotis, including several records from Arizona (Jameson 1959;Bradshaw and Ross 1961;Ubelaker 1966;Whitaker and Easterla 1975;Reisen et al 1976;Lewis and Lewis 1994). We suspect that the larvae are probably this species.…”

“…T. major is an ectoparasite of several species of bats, primarily species of Myotis, and is commonly recorded on the cave myotis (Myotis velifer) (Jameson 1959;Bradshaw and Ross 1961). The few occurrences on other species of bats are thought to be due to these species roosting in association with Myotis spp.…”

Bat Ectoparasites from the Trans-Pecos Region of Texas, Including Notes from Big Bend National Park

“…Sixteen species of bats were collected harboring 42 species of ectoparasites, including four undescribed species, 26 new host records, and Þve new parasite locality records. Other studies have examined the ectoparasite communities of bats from various sites in the southwestern United States, including Texas (Jameson 1959), New Mexico (Dooley et al 1976), Arizona (Bradshaw and Ross 1961), Nevada (Allen and Goates 1964), and California (Krutzsch 1955).…”