| abstract | From 424 bats belonging to 12 species, caught in Lower Silesia, 211 Spinturnicidae were collected, belonging to 6 species and subspecies, 9 individuals Argas vesperitilionis (Latr.), 1 larva Ixodes triangulicpes Bir. and 2 larvae Ixodes sp. (Tab. 1). All Spinturnicidae species are new to Polish fauna.
In the autumn-winter period the most common among Spinturnicidae of Lower Silesia are Spinturnix myoti (Kol.) and S. daubentoni (Kol.). The highest extensiveness of invasion and medium intensiveness of infection were noted on Myotis myotis (Borkh.) and M. daubentoni (Kuhl.); they were 42.9% - 36.6% and 1.06 - 0.72, respectively. The lowest indices were determined for M. nattereri (Kuhl.) (8.5%, 0.09) and Barbastella barbastellus (Schreb.) (13.6%, 0.19). No Spinturnicidae were caught on M. bechsteini (Kuhl.) and Eptesicus nilssoni (Keys., Blas.).
Spinturnicidae show strong attachment to a definite host, so in most hosts only one parasite species was noted. Only in one case S. daubentoni beside S. myoti was collected from M. myotis.
The taxonomic problems within a family are not ordered. The author thinks the individuals collected on M. daubentoni to belong to S. daubentoni described by Kolenati, and then for many years thought to be the synonym of S. myoti (Table 2, Figs. 1, 2).
The description is given of a new S. mystacinus brandti subspecies, collected from Myotis brandtii (Evers.).
Males of nov. ssp. differ from S. m. mystacinus by dimensions and the shape of sternal plate, the latter being in its lower part truncate, without elongation typical of S. m. mystacinus. On it there are three pairs of bristles; the lower fourth pair is placed well off the plate. The intercoxal plate I poorly developed; the intercoxal plate II missing. The jugular plate poorly developed or missing. The number of bristles between IV coxa varies from 7 to 12. Between coxa IV and the sternal plate 6 to 12 bristles (plus two pairs of plates). In two females the diagnostic characters could not have been determined (Fig. 3).
Particularly distinct are the differences in the infection degree of both host sexes, females being always much more infected than males. For instance, in female M. daubentoni the extensiveness of S. daubentoni invasion reaches up to 53.1%, while in males it does hardly up to 10.3%. The mean infection intensiveness is 1.09 in females and 0.10 in males (table 3).
Ixodides are very rare on Lower Silesian bats. A. vespertilionis, a new species in Lower Silesia, was collected mainly from M. mystacinus (Kuhl.) as well as from M. myotis and B. barbastellus, which are new hosts to A. vespertilionis in Poland. Two undetermined larvae of Ixodes sp. were collected from M. dasycneme (Boie) and M. mystacinus. |