Basilia fletcheri

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Basilia fletcheri
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Nycteribiidae
Subfamily: Nycteribiinae
Genus: Basilia
Species:
B. fletcheri
Binomial name
Basilia fletcheri
(Scott, 1914)
Synonyms
  • Penicillidia fletcheriScott, 1914

Basilia fletcheri is parasitic bat fly in the family Hippoboscidae [1] [2] or alternatively, family Nycteribiidae. [3] It is found in India.

Contents

Taxonomic history

Hugh Scott described this species in 1914. He named it after its collector, Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher. Two specimens, a male and a female, were discovered on a Dormer's bat in Tamil Nadu, India. Scott placed this species in the genus Penicillidia Kolenati, 1863. [4] In 1956, Oskar Theodor classified it as belonging to the Basilia Miranda-Ribeiro, 1903 genus, which is in the same subfamily as Penicillidia. [5]

Range

It was discovered in Chennai. [4] Scott later reported that Joseph Charles Bequaert sent him a specimen from Bengaluru, which Scott identified as this species, [6] but Theodor later wrote this specimen was in fact B. punctuata ; other places specimens have been collected include Navapur and Mumbai. [5]

Hosts

Hosts which specimens have been collected from include Dormer's bats (Scotozous dormeri) and lesser bamboo bats (Tylonycteris pachypus). [5]

Description

It is about 2.5 mm long and has a yellowish color. [4] [5]

References

  1. Evenhuis, Neal L. & Pape, Thomas, eds. (10 December 2024). "Basilia (Basilia) fletcheri (Scott, 1914)". Systema Dipterorum (5.6). Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  2. Maity, Aniruddha; Naskar, Atanu; Mitra, Swati; Chakraborty, Abesh; Hazra, Surajit; Banerjee, Dhriti (May 2014). Indian Louse Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Hippoboscidae) (Report). Kolkata: Diptera Section, Zoological Survey of India.
  3. Maa, Tsing C. (1965). "An Interim World List of Batflies: (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae)1". Journal of Medical Entomology. 1 (4): 380. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/1.4.377 . PMID   14280491.
  4. 1 2 3 Scott, Hugh (1914). "On some Oriental Nycteribiidæ[Diptera Pupipara]". Journal of Natural History. Ser. 8. 14 (81). pp. 214–217; Pl. 10. Figs. 1–4. doi:10.1080/00222931408693567.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Theodor, Oskar (1956). "On the genus Tripselia and the group of Basilia bathybothyra (Nycteribiidae, Diptera)". Parasitology. 46 (3–4): 377–380. doi:10.1017/S003118200002655X. PMID   13378884.
  6. Scott, Hugh (1917). "Notes on Nycteribiidae, with Descriptions of Two New Genera". Parasitology. 9 (4): 605. doi:10.1017/S0031182000006211.

Further reading