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Thaumapsylla Rothschild is a small genus of Old World ischnopsyllid fleas parasitic only on the family Pteropodidae (fruit bats). Despite its widespread record in the Philippines, it has never been reported in the Bicol Region, southern Luzon. In this account, we report the first record of Thaumapsylla breviceps Rothschild in the Bicol Region. It was collected from Eonycteris spelaea (Dobson), a nectarivorous fruit bat native to Southeast Asia. Also, this paper represents the first record of the genus Thaumapsylla on Bicol Region, Luzon Island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclopodia horsfieldi de Meijere, 1899 is an Old World nycteribiid bat fly primarily ectoparasitic to flying foxes (Pteropodidae). This is the first record of C. horsfieldi on Ursula Island, Philippines. This represents the first report of an ectoparasitic arthropod on bats in this protected area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the relationship between host species and ectoparasites are limited on small oceanic islands such as the Philippine archipelago, particularly between bat species and their associated ectoparasites. Prior to our study, only a single bat fly species (Leptocyclopodia simulans), a wingless species in the family Nycteribiidae, was reported on Bohol Island located in the central Philippines. We report additional records of nycteribiid bat fly species collected from cave-dwelling bats on Bohol Island. We also report the first records of winged bat flies in the family Streblidae as well as new distribution records for Brachytarsina amboinensis, B. cucullata, B. werneri, Megastrebla parvior, Raymondia pagodarum, R. pseudopagodarum, Eucampsipoda inermis, E. sundaica, Nycteribia allotopa, N. allotopoides, N. parvula, and Penicillidia acuminata on Bohol Island. In addition to documenting new distribution records of nycteribiid and streblid bat flies in the Philippines, we also report new host records for some bat fly species. This includes the first record of B. amboinensis collected on Taphozous melanopogon (Black-bearded tomb bat), B. werneri on Miniopterus tristis (Great bent-winged bat), and R. pagodarum on Hipposideros pygmaeus (Philippine pygmy roundleaf bat). Our study highlights the undocumented relationships that exist between bats and bat flies, and warrants further investigation particularly in understudied island systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyctenidae Westwood, also known as bat bugs, is a haematophagous group of hemipterans exclusively ectoparasitic on bats and is closely related to Cimicidae Latreille. These bugs are dorsoventrally flattened with conspicuous ctenidia, apterous, anophthalmus, possess well-developed legs, and reproduce via pseudoplacental viviparity. They are rare compared to other insect taxa ectoparasitic on bats as evinced by a relatively small number of museum collections and described taxa. Worldwide, it is represented by 2 subfamilies, 5 genera, and 32 species. In the Philippines, it is only represented by two species from the genus Eoctenes Kirkaldy: E. spasmae (Waterhouse) and E. intermedius (Speiser). The first Philippine record for the genus was reported in 1961 from Northern Luzon. This paper presents the first record of Eoctenes in Southern Luzon, with key to the Cimicoidea ectoparasitic on bats in the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]