Persian Journal of Acarology

Persian Journal of Acarology

Contribution to the fauna of bat-parasitizing ticks in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Authors
1 University of Sarajevo – Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2 Center for Karst and Speleology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
3 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Belgrade, Serbia
10.22073/pja.v13i1.84338
Abstract
To contribute to the scarce data on tick fauna associated with bats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we analyzed six tick samples collected at the Dardagani quarry in Karakaj, Zvornik, northeastern Bosnia (coordinates: 44.4313603, 19.0883753). Sampling was carried out by researchers from the Center for Karst and Speleology as part of their field surveys on August 25, 2023. Bat species were identified onsite using the identification key for European bat species (Dietz and Kiefer 2016). The only present species was Schreiber's bent-winged bat, Miniopterus schreibersii (Kuhl, 1817). The results of both morphological and molecular approaches were congruent in identifying all samples as I. vespertilionis, being its first molecular record in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.