Search for the blind vampire: First record of eoctenes kirkaldy in southern luzon, (hemiptera: Polyctenidae), with key to the cimicoidea, ectoparasitic on bats in the Philippines

Issue Date

5-2017

Abstract

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.

Source or Periodical Title

Halteres

ISSN

0973-1555

Volume

8

Page

25-29

Document Type

Article

Physical Description

illustrations

Language

English

Subject

Cimicoidea, Eoctenes, New record, Polyctenidae, Southern Luzon

Identifier

doi:10.5281/zenodo.580473

Digital Copy

yes

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