Incidence, Host Specificity, Distribution, and Morphological Variation in Arthrorhynchus Nycteribiae and A. Eucampsipodae (Laboulbeniomycetes)

SUMMARY

Nycteribiidae (Diptera) are ectoparasites of bats in the Old and New World. Some Old World nycteribiids are hosts for Arthrorhynchus (Laboulbeniomycetes). Thirty-five additional collections of A. nycteribiae and A. eucampsipodae greatly extend the known host and distributional range of these two species. In addition, it has been found that although morphological similarity exists within fungal thalli of the same collection, both species are marked by a great degree of intraspecific variation which usually cannot be correlated with climate, geographical location, host species, host sex, or other factors. It is suggested that low population densities and partial isolation of populations may contribute to intra-specific variation.