Seasonal variation and host sex affect bat–bat fly interaction networks in the Amazonian savannahs

• Published in: Integrative zoology 2024-05, Vol.19 (3), p.400-416
• Main Authors: MEJIA, Paulo, URBIETA, Gustavo Lima, XAVIER, Bruna da Silva, CASTRO, Isaí Jorge de, DE TOLEDO, José Júlio, GRACIOLLI, Gustavo, VIANA DIAS, Lucio André, CARVALHO, William Douglas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amapá; Amazon biome; Animals; bat flies; Bats; Brazil; Chiroptera; Chiroptera - physiology; Diptera - physiology; Dry season; Female; Females; Grassland; Host-Parasite Interactions; interaction networks; Male; Males; Modularity; Nycteribiidae; Parasites; Rainy season; Savannahs; Seasonal variation; Seasonal variations; Seasonality; Seasons; Sex; Sex Factors; Specialization; Species richness; Statistical analysis; Streblidae; Wet season
• ISSN: 1749-4877; 1749-4869; 1749-4877
• DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12756

Bats are the second‐most diverse group of mammals in the world, and bat flies are their main parasites. However, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding these antagonistic interactions, especially since diverse factors such as seasonality and host sex can affect their network structures. Here, we explore the influence of such factors by comparing species richness and composition of bat flies on host bats, as well as specialization and modularity of bat–bat fly interaction networks between seasons and adult host sexes. We captured bats and collected their ectoparasitic flies at 10 sampling sites in the savannahs of Amapá State, northeastern region of the Brazilian Amazon. Despite female bats being more parasitized and recording greater bat fly species richness in the wet season, neither relationship was statistically significant. The pooled network could be divided into 15 compartments with 54 links, and all subnetworks comprised >12 compartments. The total number of links ranged from 27 to 48 (for the dry and wet seasons, respectively), and female and male subnetworks had 44 and 41 links, respectively. Connectance values were very low for the pooled network and for all subnetworks. Our results revealed higher bat fly species richness and abundance in the wet season, whereas specialization and modularity were higher in the dry season. Moreover, the subnetwork for female bats displayed higher specialization and modularity than the male subnetwork. Therefore, both seasonality and host sex contribute in different ways to bat–bat fly network structure. Future studies should consider these factors when evaluating bat–bat fly interaction networks. Our data provide information on the interactions between bats and bat flies in one of the largest portions of Brazilian Amazonian savannah. Here, we demonstrate that environmental variations and host sex can influence the structure of interaction networks formed between bats and their ectoparasitic flies.