The skin reactions of two species of Southeast Asian Chiroptera to notoedrid and teinocoptid mites

Abstract

The host–parasite relationships of several notoedrid and teinocoptid mites of two Malaysian bats, Cheiromeles torquatus (the hairless bat) and Cynopterus brachyotis (the common fruit bat), were studied.C. torquatus is parasitized by five species of Notoedres (family Sarcoptidae)—N. alexfaini, N. longisetosus, N. elongatus, N. rajamanickami and N. cheiromeles. Two, N. alexfaini and N. longisetosus, are responsible for generalized mange, which affects mainly the trunk. The three remaining species produce small, discrete lesions, each having a distinctive morphology and polarity.Notoedres elongatus causes papilliform swellings, usually over the bony parts of the wing. It inhabits deep burrows in the swellings, which consist largely of hyper-plastic connective tissue heavily infiltrated with round cells. The lesions produced by N. rajamanickami resemble those of N. elongatus, except that they are located on the head in the neighbourhood of the vibrissae and are not elevated. N. cheiromeles dwells in cupules in the stratum corneum on various parts of the body, including the wings. These cupules are formed as a result of an intense hyper-keratosis in the immediate vicinity of the mites.The reaction of the skin of Cynopterus brachyotis to the teinocoptid mite, Teino-coptes asiaticus (family Teinocoptidae), expresses itself chiefly as an extensive acanthosis. There is little or no thickening of the stratum corneum except on the lips of the epidermal cupule in which the anterior end of the mite rests. The dermis underlying the mite undergoes moderate fibroblastic proliferation.We would like to thank Mr Lim Boo Liat of the Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, and Mr Eric Alfred of the National Museum, Singapore, who very kindly allowed us to examine material from their collections. Mr Lim also assisted in other ways and proved to be a genial and helpful host when we visited his laboratory at the IMR. We are also most grateful to Professor John Harrison, who so generously provided us with space in his department.