The presence of wingless bat flies (Eucampsipoda africana) parasitizing Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in Kagera, Tanzania.
- 1Department of Microbiology, Parasitology and Biotechnology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Box 3019, SUA, Morogoro, Tanzania.
- 2Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Box 661, Arusha, Tanzania.
- 3National Agricultural Research Organization, Box 5704, Kampala, Uganda.
Abstract
Bat ectoparasites are important components of bat communities and have close ecological relationships with their hosts. Eucampsipoda africana (E. africana) is a wingless bat fly that parasitizes Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), but its occurrence and host association have received little attention in Tanzania. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in which 269 bat flies were collected from Egyptian fruit bats and analyzed using morphological identification, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequencing, and blood-meal analysis. Out of the 193 bats examined, 37.3% (72/193; 95% CI: 30.5-44.5%) of the bats were infested with at least one bat fly. Binary logistic regression showed that age, sex, and village were significantly associated with fly infestation. Adults had higher odds of infestation than juveniles (OR = 4.59, 95% CI: 1.87-11.28), while males had lower odds than females (OR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.25-0.96). Infestation also differed significantly among villages. COI sequences showed 100% nucleotide identity with reference E. africana sequences available in GenBank, and phylogenetic analysis clustered the Tanzanian samples with previously reported E. africana in Zambia. Blood-meal analysis corroborated the field assumption that these flies have an association with Rousettus aegyptiacus (R. aegyptiacus). These findings represent the first molecular confirmation of E. africana associated with R. aegyptiacus and of its prevalence in Kagera Region-Tanzania.
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BibTeX
@article{mpete2026presence,
title = {{The presence of wingless bat flies (Eucampsipoda africana) parasitizing Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in Kagera, Tanzania.}},
author = {Herbertha Elias Mpete and Emma Peter Njau and Mikidadi Issanudia Mtalika and Deusdedith Bwenge Fidelis and Susan Diana Kerfua and Philemon Wambura and Emmanuel George Kifaro},
journal = {International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101306},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927266},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The presence of wingless bat flies (Eucampsipoda africana) parasitizing Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in Kagera, Tanzania.
AU - Herbertha Elias Mpete
AU - Emma Peter Njau
AU - Mikidadi Issanudia Mtalika
AU - Deusdedith Bwenge Fidelis
AU - Susan Diana Kerfua
AU - Philemon Wambura
AU - Emmanuel George Kifaro
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife
DO - 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101306
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927266
AB - Bat ectoparasites are important components of bat communities and have close ecological relationships with their hosts. Eucampsipoda africana (E. africana) is a wingless bat fly that parasitizes Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), but its occurrence and host association have received little attention in Tanzania. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in which 269 bat flies were collected from Egyptian fruit bats and analyzed using morphological identification, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequencing, and blood-meal analysis. Out of the 193 bats examined, 37.3% (72/193; 95% CI: 30.5-44.5%) of the bats were infested with at least one bat fly. Binary logistic regression showed that age, sex, and village were significantly associated with fly infestation. Adults had higher odds of infestation than juveniles (OR = 4.59, 95% CI: 1.87-11.28), while males had lower odds than females (OR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.25-0.96). Infestation also differed significantly among villages. COI sequences showed 100% nucleotide identity with reference E. africana sequences available in GenBank, and phylogenetic analysis clustered the Tanzanian samples with previously reported E. africana in Zambia. Blood-meal analysis corroborated the field assumption that these flies have an association with Rousettus aegyptiacus (R. aegyptiacus). These findings represent the first molecular confirmation of E. africana associated with R. aegyptiacus and of its prevalence in Kagera Region-Tanzania.
SN - 2213-2244
ER -