Anastrebla
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Hippoboscidae
- Genus: Anastrebla
Visual Description
Specimens of the genus Anastrebla exhibit the specialized morphology characteristic of bat flies (Hippoboscoidea). Observations from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset reveal a dorsoventrally flattened body, an adaptation for navigating the fur of their chiropteran hosts.[1] The head is typically small and often folded back dorsally over the thorax, a common feature in many streblid flies.[1] The legs are robust and equipped with claws, facilitating attachment to host pelage.[1]
Ecology and Distribution
Anastrebla species are obligate ectoparasites of bats, specifically within the family Phyllostomidae.[2] For example, Anastrebla caudiferae is primarily associated with Anoura caudifer, though it has been recorded on other phyllostomid bats such as Carollia brevicauda, Enchisthenes hartii, and Glossophaga soricina, sometimes as an accidental infestation.[2] The genus is widely distributed across South America, with records from countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.[2] Interactions with other bat species, such as Hsunycteris thomasi, have also been documented.[3]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 3 4 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Hippoboscidae / Anastrebla constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- 1 2 3 Jorge Raigosa Álvarez; Carolina García Osorio; Analía G. Autino; Lucimar Gomes Dias. First records of ectoparasitic insects (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) of bats in the department of Caldas, Colombia. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 2020. https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.18.
- ↑ Anastrebla. Global Biotic Interactions. https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/?targetTaxon=Anastrebla. Accessed 2026-07-14.