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Parasites represent a large fraction of the world's biodiversity. They control host population sizes and contribute to ecosystem functioning. However, surveys on species diversity rarely include parasitic species. Bats often present traits favoring parasite diversity, such as large home ranges, long life spans, and large colonies. The most conspicuous bat parasites are the highly host‐specific, blood‐sucking bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae, Nycteribiidae). Recent studies have found a direct effect of habitat alteration on the abundance of bat species. We expected, therefore, that changes in the host community in response to anthropogenic habitat modification will also result in changes in the associated parasite community. We captured bats in three different habitats in Central Panama between 2013 and 2015. We recorded information on prevalence and intensity of bat fly parasitization of the seven most commonly captured bat species. Prevalence and intensity were both significantly influenced by roost type, abundance, and host sex and age. We found that habitat variables and matrix type significantly influenced the prevalence and intensity of parasitization, while the direction of the responses was host species‐ and parasite species‐specific. In general, roosting conditions and behavior of host bats appear to be fundamental in explaining changes in prevalence and intensity of parasitization between different habitat types, as bat flies are bound to the roost during their reproductive cycle. Habitat alterations affect next to the host community composition also the availability of possible roost structures as well as microclimatic conditions, which all three reflect in parasitization. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

Ectoparasitism in bats seems to be influenced strongly by the type of roost preferred by the hosts, and group size; however, the effect of habitat loss and fragmentation on the prevalence of ectoparasites in bats has scarcely been studied. In northeastern Yucatan, Mexico, we estimated the prevalence of infestation by Streblidae flies in three phyllostomid bat species with different roost preferences (caves, trees, or both) in two types of landscape matrices (tropical semi-deciduous forest and man-made pastures) that differed in area of forest cover and the number of forest fragments. Habitat fragmentation and the presence of a contrasting matrix may limit the availability of roosts (trees) and the movement of bats across the landscape. Accordingly, we hypothesized higher prevalence of Streblidae infestation in the pasture matrix and in the group of bats that roost in trees. Bat abundance was higher in the pasture matrix; however, the prevalence of infestation was significantly higher in the continuous forest matrix and in bats that roosted in caves. The prevalence of some species of Streblidae was affected by habitat fragmentation in species that roost in caves, such as Desmodus rotundus, as well as those using foliage and caves, such as Artibeus jamaicensis. Our results provide evidence that some species of Streblidae may respond differently to habitat fragmentation than their hosts, generating changes to bat-ectoparasite interactions in fragmented areas. Environmental variations involving roosts, not evaluated in this study, may influence our results, since these factors affect ectoparasite abundance and reproduction.

Studies comparing the abundance of frugivorous bats in shade-coffee plantations and forest fragments report contradictory results, and have not taken into account the landscape context in which coffee plantations are immersed. Variables of population composition such as abundance, sex proportion, and reproductive condition, together with biological tags (i.e., bat fly prevalence), can provide information about spatiotemporal dynamics of habitats used by bats. In the central part of Veracruz, Mexico, we compared population variables and ectoparasite prevalence of the highland yellow-shouldered bat (Sturnira ludovici) in two landscapes, one dominated by shade-coffee plantations and another by forest fragments. Comparing these attributes between these two landscapes will increase our knowledge about the role of this agro-ecosystem in the conservation of this species, which is an important seed disperser of cloud forest vegetation. Total abundance and proportion of females was greater in forest fragments than in coffee plantations, whereas the percentage of reproductive females and bat fly prevalence was similar between landscapes. Our results show that landscapes with forest fragments harbor the greatest abundance of S. ludovici, but shade-coffee plantations also are utilized by S. ludovici and likely adjacent forest remnants provide enough food resources for this species and other frugivores. Moreover, this study provides more evidence documenting the importance of preserving the last cloud forest fragments in the central region of Veracruz, Mexico, and suggests that using shade-coffee plantations to connect forest fragments may be an effective way of maintaining populations of S. ludovici and likely other volant frugivores.

While netting bats to collect streblid bat flies at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, two different natural enemies of streblids were found attacking the bat flies on two species of bats. One was identified as a parasitoid in the hymenopteran family, Braconidae, while the other was a predaceous plant bug in the hemipteran family, Miridae. This is the first description of a natural enemy of streblids being collected in situ (i.e., actively foraging through the hair of the streblid bat host).