Estudo da preferência dos ácaros (Acari: Spinturnicidae e Macronyssidae) ectoparasitos por regiões anatômicas em morcegos de área de Mata Atlântica, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Abstract

The ectoparasites of endotermics vertebrates are distributed in seven orders with 6.000 species. Studies of bat´s mites preferences are scarce in the world, especially in Brazil. The study was conducted at Fazenda Marambaia and Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, both areas of Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro State and aimed to indicate the spinturnicid´s and macronyssid´s preference for any anatomical region of bats body. Bats were collected between June/2009 and June/2010. The bat´s wing and the uropatagium were divided into seven regions, as follows: propatagium (1); dactylopatagium brevis (2); dactylopatagium minus (3); dactylopatagium medius (4); dactylopatagium major (5); plagiopatagium (6); uropatagium (7). In the laboratory, mites were mounted in permanent preparations between slide and coverslip with lactophenol, as a clarifying agent and mounted using Hoyer's medium. The parasitic mites collected were separated, identified and counted. We used the Cochran statistical test to analyze whether there is a preference of mites for any anatomical region of bat´s body. We captured 236 bats, 137 spinturnicids and 82 macronyssids. For Spintunicidae family, Periglischrus iheringi was the specie most captured (86.1%), and the test applied showed that Artibeus lituratus is parasitized by those mites in virtually all regions studied, the other species of bats studied are concentrated on plagiopatagium. About Macronyssidae family, Radfordiella desmodi was the most dominant specie, and according to Cochran test, the plagiopatagium concentrated greater number of macronyssids specimens too. With the data presented in this study it was concluded that mites belonging to the family and Spinturnicidae Macronyssidae, both adults, show a preference for the plagiopataium, followed respectively by the regions of dactylopatagium major and uropatagium. In relation to the nymphs of these two families of mites region is also the highest parasitism plagiopatagium.