Date of Award

8-2014

Thesis Date

5-2014

Degree Type

Honors Thesis-Unrestricted

Degree Name

B.S.

Department

Interdisciplinary Studies

Degree Program

Interdisciplinary Studies

Director

Phil DeVries

Abstract

Bat flies (Streblidae) are obligate blood-feeding ectoparasites of bats that display varying degrees of host specificity. A total of 265 streblid bat flies were collected from 122 bats belonging to the families Phyllostomidae and Natalidae from Utila, the smallest bay island of Honduras. Out of four host-parasite associations, three were considered primary. Out of the three bat species analyzed, one had significantly lower parasite prevalence and another had significantly higher parasite load and intensity. Both male and female bats were equally likely to be infested and variables of parasite density did not differ amongst host sex for any species. However, one species of bat had a significantly larger number of male parasites than female parasites. No significant relationships were found between variables of parasite density and host body mass or bat health (indicated by the ratio of mass to forearm length). The roosting ecology of the two cave roosting species in the study was considered and despite no apparent lack of dispersal barriers, the bat flies exhibited consistent primary associations. Examination of similar host-parasite relationship has many implications in parasite-host relationships and coevolution.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this honors thesis in whole or part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the honors thesis.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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