RESEARCH COMMUNICATION

 

Helminth parasites of Natal long-fingered bats, Miniopterus natalensis (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae), in South Africa

 

 

K. Junker^I; O. Bain^II; J. Boomker^{I, *}

^IDepartment of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa
^IIMuséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Parasitologie comparée et Modèles expérimentaux, USM 307, CP52, 61 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris, Cedex 05 France

 

 

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ABSTRACT

The helminth community infecting Miniopterus natalensis was studied at two localities, the De Hoop Nature Reserve (DHNR) (n = 57), Western Cape Province and Pretoria (n = 12), Gauteng Province, South Africa. Hosts from the DHNR had formed part of an earlier, unrelated study and were all pregnant females. A single hymenolepidid cestode species, the nematodes Molinostrongylus ornatus and Litomosa chiropterorum together with nematodes of the subfamily Capillariinae were present at both study sites, while a single digenean, Allassogonoporus sp., was only found in hosts from the DHNR. The prevalence of helminth infections was high at both localities, 68.4 % in the DHNR and 77.7 % in Pretoria, whereas the mean intensity of infection was low at the DHNR (3.76 ± 3.15), but higher in Pretoria (10.4 ± 9.9). Molinostrongylus ornatus and, to a lesser extent L. chiropterorum, were the main contributors to the higher intensities in Pretoria. The species richness ranged from 0 to 4 at both localities.

Keywords: Cestoda, Chiroptera, Digenea, Nematoda

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Accepted for publication 12 May 2008-Editor

 

 

* Author to whom correspondence is to be directed. E-mail: joop.boomker@up.ac.za