Title
Tracking host use by bat ectoparasites with stable isotope analysis
Date Issued
01 January 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Hernández-Arciga U.
Herrera M. L.G.
Morales-Malacara J.B.
Publisher(s)
Canadian Science Publishing
Abstract
We used C and N stable isotopes of nectarivorous bats and their ectoparasites to determine the extent to which parasites depend on the host individual for food. The difference in stable isotope values between parasites and host tissues (Δ13C and Δ15N) was used as a proxy of host use. First, we tested the hypothesis that movement among individual Mexican long-tongued bats (Choeronycteris mexicana Tschudi, 1844) is more likely to occur in winged flies than in mites as indicated by higher host–parasite isotopic Euclidian distance (ED). Second, we tested the hypothesis that ectoparasite species in two coexisting bat species representing the C3(Geoffroy’s tailless bat, Anoura geoffroyi Gray, 1838) and the CAM (lesser long-nosed bat, Leptonycteris yerbabuenae Martinez and Villa-R., 1940) food chains were monoxenous as indicated by their isotopic values. We also examined Δ13C and Δ15N of individual parasites in relation to13C and15N reference enrichment factors as an indication of host switching. In general, flies in C. mexicana had higher ED and wider ranges of individual Δ13C and Δ15N than mites, suggesting that host switching occurred to a larger extent. Most ectoparasites species collected in both coexisting bats were monoxenous, but one fly species appears to be oligoxenous. Individual Δ13C and Δ15N values varied widely in these parasite species, suggesting movements within species hosts.
Start page
353
End page
360
Volume
94
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Biología Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, ciencias biológicas del comportamiento
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84966605266
Source
Canadian Journal of Zoology
ISSN of the container
00084301
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus