Composition and structure of helminth communities in two populations of Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae) from Spain

The community composition and structure of helminths of Pipistrellus pipist rellus (Schreber, 1774) from two widely separated Spanish localities, El Sa ler (n = 42) and the San Pedro pothole (n = 34), were determined and compar ed. Five species of trematodes, Plagiorchis (Plagiorchis) sp., Lecithodendr ium (Lecithodendrium) linstowi Dollfus, 1931, Prosthodendrium (Prosthodendr ium) sp., Pycnoporus heteroporus (Dujardin, 1845) and Parabascus semisquamo sus (Braun, 1900), and one species of cestode, Hymenolepis pipistrelli Lope z-Neyra, 1941, were found. The two bat populations harboured the same helmi nth species and showed the same trematode dominance, but the most important differences between the two helminth community structures were attributabl e to L. (L.) linstowi and H. pipistrelli. The mean species richness in the two localities was not significantly different. The mean number of helminth species per infected bat, mean infracommunity abundance and mean infracomm unity diversity showed significant differences between both localities. The number of helminths per bat in both populations displayed an aggregated di stribution. Results indicate that the different characteristics of the P. p ipistrellus foraging area in both localities are important in determining t he composition and structure of helminth communities in this bat species. T his is the first study of a Palaearctic bat helminth community.