Kathryn Wheelwright

T10 1615

In the article, Geographical distributions of bat flies (diptera: Nycteribiidae and

Streblidae), including two new records, Nycteribiidae allotropa and N. formosana,

collected from bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae and Vespertilionidae) in the Republic of

Korea, the authors discussed the whereabouts and findings of known/new species of

bat flies through a comprehensive survey while replicating a previous experiment.

Previously in the Republic of Korea, there had been a research study on five species of

Nycteribiidae and one species of Streblidae, yet they hadnt formed a comprehensive

survey to show the whereabouts of the bat ectoparasites they found while doing their

experiment. The researchers don't directly state a hypothesis, yet they had done this

experiment to understand the previous species of bat flies, along with comprehending

and comparing the data collected from the previous experiment. The researchers

werent only focused on retesting the previous experiment, but wanted to create a

comprehensive survey of where the bat flies are and which species inhabit each region.

The researchers used random sampling because it was able to collect various

kinds of bats and bat flies in the selected locations. The researchers conducted a

comprehensive survey of the bat flies locations and distribution in relation to their hosts

during the collection. The researchers used nets to capture the bats in caves, mines,

and underneath bridges in 30 different provinces and cities. Once the bats were

captured, they removed the bat flies and sent them to many labs for identification.

When the researchers were identifying the bat flies, they used a dissecting microscope.
Also, once they had finished identification, they began to look closer into the zoonotic

pathogen and how the bat flies interact with humans.

After removing and sending the bat flies for identification, results varied

depending on the bat species. The researchers collected 142 bats belonging to 10

different species. Rhinolophus ferrumequinum was the most frequently captured bat.

However, only 19 of the 142 bats were infested with bat flies. Of the 39 bat flies

captured on the bats, five species of Nycteribiidae (N.) and one species of Streblidae

were studied. The Miniopterus schreibersi bat was most commonly infested by bat flies

at 47.4%. Also, the N. allotopa mikado was the most commonly collected bat fly which

was only found on Miniopterus schreibersi bats. While conducting their experiment, the

researchers discovered the first occurrence of N. allotopa mikado, N. Formosana, and

N. cf. Formosana in the Republic of Korea. The experiment showed three new records

of bat flies in the Republic of Korea, while three of the previously collected bat flies were

not found in this experiment. One species of bat, was susceptible up to 12 bat flies.

While conducting their experiment, the researchers discovered the first

occurrence of N. allotopa mikado, N. Formosana, and N. cf. Formosana in the Republic

of Korea. Thus, they dont know why the new species have occurred in the Republic of

Korea since they are very similar to species in other countries. Their role as a zoonotic

pathogen and taxonomic status is unknown to the researchers. The researchers

intended on replicating the experiment of finding the same species of bat flies, but

ended up finding new species to the region instead. The limitations to the study

occurred when capturing bats only in certain locations, which may have affected which
bat flies were identified and others that were not. Dr. Motoyoshi Mogi, who had

previously identified N. ueno, suggested further experiments to find similarities between

the new species found in the Republic of Korea and the species in other countries. Thus

the author states, He commented that there might be problems with Maa's

Morphological description of N. formosana since it was based on a few specimens from

limited localities (Kim et al, 2012, p. 337). He suggest that studying a larger population

of bats, would increase the amount of bat flies, hoping to find similarities with the new

species in the Republic of Korea since the key they were going by to characterize these

new species says the N. formosana was extremely similar to the N. ueno (found in

Tsushima Island). The researchers included many of the bat species in the region into

their study while demonstrating their relationship with bat flies. The researchers were

shocked about three new species of bat flies to the Republic of Korea, so they want to

further study the geographical and seasonal effects on the distribution and addition of

the new species.

 Work cited

Heung Chul Kim, Sang Hoon Han, Carl W. Dick, Yong Gun Choi, Sung Tae Chong,

Terry A. Klein, and Leopoldo M. Rueda. 2012. Geographical distributions of bat

flies (diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae), including two new records,

Nycteribiidae allotropa and N. formosana, collected from bats (Chiroptera:

Rhinolophidae and Vespertilionidae) in the Republic of Korea. 37(2):333-337.