Scientific publications

First data on parasites from bats (Chiroptera) in Karelia are presented. Bats were captured at hibernacula in Lahdenpohsky and Sortavalsky Districts of Karelia in March 2010 and February 2011. Partial helminthological dissection was applied to 12 bat individuals of three species: northern bat Eptesicus nilssonii Keyserling & Blasius, 1839 (8 specimens), brown long-eared bat Plecotus auritus (Linnaeus, 1758) (1 spm.), and Brandt’s bat Myotis brandtii (Eversmann, 1845) (3spm.). Ectoparasites were collected from the bats captured in February 2010: E. nilssonii – 6 individuals (3 from each of Sortavalsky and Lahdenpohsky Districts), P. auritus – 1 ind. (Lahdenpohsky District), M. brandtii – 1 ind. (Sortavalsky District). The surveys revealed 14 species of parasites from different taxonomic groups. All the parasites were found in Karelia for the first time. Helminthes were represented only by trematodes of 3 families: Plagiorchiidae (Plagiorchis vespertilionis, P. koreanus, P. muelleri), Lecithodendriidae (Lecithodendrium linstowi, Paralecithodendrium chilostomum, P. skrjabini), and Pleurogenidae (Parabascus magnitestis). Ectoparasites in the samples include gamasid mites of the families Spinturnicidae (Spinturnix kolenatii, S. plecotinus) and Macronyssidae (Macronyssus crosbyi, M. cyclaspis), chigger mites of the family Trombiculidae (Leptotrombidium sp.), and fleas of the family Ischnopsyllidae (Ischnopsyllus hexactenus, Ischnopsyllus sp.). All the parasites are bat specialists, known to occur in various parts of Russia and Europe.