Helminth parasites of bats (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) in the Department of Junin, Peru and Check list of records made in Peru

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the parasitic helminth fauna of Phyllostomid bats from Junin, Peru, as well as to prepare an updated check list of records made in Peru. Thirty bats of 6 different species belonging to the family Phyllostomidae were captured in Chanchamayo, Junin, Peru. Regarding these species, Artibeus lituratus Olfers, 1818, A. planirostris (Spix, 1823) and Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758) were parasitized by trematodes, Phyllostomus discolor (Wagner, 1843) by cestodes and A. lituratus, A. planirostris, Carollia benkeithi Solari & Baker, 2006, C. perspicillata, Glossophaga soricina Pallas, 1766 and P. discolor by nematodes. The mean abundance of infection was greater for the trematodes with 175 specimens, followed by the nematodes with 115 specimens. Twenty-six parasitic species were found in the literature in the checklist developed in this study. Litomosoides brasiliensis Almeida, 1936 was the endoparasite with the highest number of hosts, and the number of hosts with at least one parasitic occurrence is 23 bat species in the checklist. All the parasites mentioned in the paper are new records for the department of Junin, Peru.