Winter appearance of ectoparasite communities living bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in the artificial caves of the Samara Luka

Background. Ectoparasites living bats are natural reserves of many dangerous zoonotic agents, which determines the relevance of studying the structure of their communities and searching for factors that determine them.The purpose of the study is to investigate the structure of ectoparasitic communities of bats wintering on the territory of Samara Luka and to assess the infestation of animals with ectoparasites. Materials and methods. This research was conducted in artificial caves located on the territory of the Samara Luka National Park. After capture, the bats were carefully examined for the presence of ectoparasites, the collected arthropods were placed in a 70% ethanol solution. Then the arthropods were fixed according to standard methods, using a solution of potassium alkali as a bleach. To assess the infestation of bats, standard parasitological indices were calculated: the extent of invasion (EI, %), the intensity of invasion (II, ex.), the index of parasite abundance (IO, ex.). Core species, satellites, and random species were identified in the communities. The comparison of communities was carried by the Jaccard similarity index (CJ). Species diversity and equalization of species density in communities were determined by the Shannon (H) and Pielu (E) indices. Results. The species and sex-age structures of ectoparasitic communities were determined and the ectoparasite infestation of 7 bat species wintering on the territory of Samara Luka was assessed: Myotis nattereri, M. mystacinus, M. brandtii, M. daubentonii, M. dasycneme, Plecotus auritus, Eptesicus nilssonii. The listed species of bats are parasitized by 16 species of blood-sucking arthropods belonging to 4 systematic categories: bat flies (Nycteribiidae), fleas (Ischnopsyllidae) and gamasid mites (Spinturnicidae and Macronyssidae).Conclusions: Large blood-sucking arthropods (Nycteribiidae, Spinturnicidae) occupy a huge share in the communities of ectoparasites of wintering bats, while macronissids in the conditions of the Samara Luka apparently die, because the uncomfortable temperature slows down their life cycle. The formation of the winter appearance of ectoparasite communities is mainly determined by the summer interactions of bats, the contamination of parasitic fauna in winter is insignificant.