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 factor...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 AmapáState,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.展开更多
基金P.M.was supported by a master’s scholarship and currently,is supported by doctoral scholarships from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior(CAPES)Brazil(process number 88887.662021/2022-00)+4 种基金B.S.X.was supported by doctoral scholarships from CAPES,Brazil.W.D.C.was supported by post-doctoral funding(PNPD/CAPES)until early 2020.Currently,W.D.C.is supported by“Ayudas Maria Zambrano”(CA3/RSUE/2021-00197)funded by the Spanish Ministry of UniversitiesG.L.U.was supported by Paraiba State Research Foundation(FAPESQ)under a doctoral scholarship from Grant No.518/18 and by PDPG-Amazônia Legal(process number 88887.834037/2023-00)G.G.was supported by CNPq(process number 306216/2018)Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul.J.J.T.received a research productivity scholarship from CNPq(process number 316281/2021-22).
文摘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 AmapáState,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.
