First record of Psorergatoides Fain, 1959 (Acari, Cheyletoidea, Psorergatidae) for the Balkan Peninsula with description of the cutaneous lesions on the wing membrane of its hosts Myotismyotis (Borkhausen, 1797) and Myotisblythii (Tomes, 1857) (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)

Abstract

Healthy wing membranes are essential for bats. They are critical for maintaining the water balance and, during hibernation, they protect the bat's body from dehydration. Assessing the state of the membrane visually is an easy and effective way to monitor a bat's health and discover abnormal structures and infections in wild bat populations. During pre- and post-hibernation surveys of bats' wings, we identified the presence of skin mites, Psorergatoideskerivoulae (Fain, 1959). The parasite causes cutaneous lesions on the wing membranes of the greater moused-eared bat, Myotismyotis (Borkhausen, 1797) and the lesser moused-eared bat, Myotisblythii (Tomes, 1857). The lesser mouse-eared bat is a new host for this parasite. Our study is the first to describe the histopathology of the infection on the wings of the greater and lesser mouse-eared bats. To our knowledge, this is the southernmost record of this parasite and the first mention of the genus Psorergatoides for the Balkans.

Keywords: Balkan Peninsula; Psorergatoides; bat wing health; mouse-eared bats; skin mites.