Nycteribiidae
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Nycteribiidae of the true fly superfamily Hippoboscoidea are known as "bat flies", together with their close relatives the Streblidae. As the latter do not seem to be a monophyletic group, it is conceivable to unite all bat flies in a single family.¹

They are flattened, spiderlike flies without eyes or wings, and are seldom encountered by general collectors, as they almost never leave the bodies of their hosts. Both males and females take blood meals, thus they qualify as real parasites. Claims made in the literature that they feed on skin cells, such as in Australian flying foxes, have circulated widely but are incorrect^{verification neededcitation needed}. Most species are highly host-specific. The family is primarily found in the Old World tropics; a few of the roughly 250 species occur in the Neotropics and in Europe

Selected genera

• Basilia
• Cyclopodia
• Dipseliopoda
• Eucampsipoda
• Nycteribia
• Penicillidia
• Phtiridium

Footnotes

References

• Petersen, Frederik Torp; Meier, Rudolf; Kutty, Sujatha Narayanan & Wiegmann, Brian M. (2007): The phylogeny and evolution of host choice in the Hippoboscoidea (Diptera) as reconstructed using four molecular markers. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 45(1): 111–122. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.04.023 (HTML abstract)

Further reading

• Bertola, P.B.; Aires, C.C.; Favorito, S.E.; Graciolli, G.; Amaku, M. & Pinto-da-Rocha, R. (2005): Bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae, Nycteribiidae) parasitic on bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) at Parque Estadual da Cantareira, São Paulo, Brazil: parasitism rates and host-parasite associations. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 100(1): 25-32. doi:10.1590/S0074-02762005000100005 PDF fulltext
• Graciolli, G. & Moura, M.O. (2005): Basilia quadrosae sp. nov. (Diptera: Nycteribiidae), member of the ferruginea group, from southern Brazil. Zootaxa 1087: 33–38. PDF abstract and first page text
• Graciolli, G.; Passos, F.C.; Pedro, W.A. & Lim, B.K. (2002): Records of Streblidae and Nycteribiidae (Diptera) on vespertilionid bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from São Paulo State, Brazil. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 110(3): 402-404. DOI:10.1664/0028-7199(2002)110[402:ROSAND]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract
• Graciolli, G.; Dick, C.W. & Gettinger, D. (2006): A faunal survey of nycteribiid flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) associated with bats in Paraguay. Zootaxa 1220: 35-46. PDF fulltext
• Graciolli, G.; Autino, A.G. & Claps, G.L. (2007): Catalogue of American Nycteribiidae (Diptera, Hippoboscoidea). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 51(2): 142-159. doi:10.1590/S0085-56262007000200004 PDF fulltext

External links

• Nycteribiidae page at British Insects: Diptera Families (Contains links to illustrations)

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