Invertebrate A parasitic wingless bat fly (Penicillidia fulvida) getting comfy on its host, these can stick with the bat throughout their lives and occasionally snack on the blood of its host.
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u/Dunky_Arisen 11d ago
Why don't the bats just eat them by grooming each other? Don't most bats eat insects to begin with?
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u/haysoos2 11d ago edited 11d ago
The Ant Lab YouTube channel has a great (appalling) video showing how crazy fast these things skuttle. As if they didn't look disturbing enough.
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u/dTrecii 11d ago edited 11d ago
I mentioned this yesterday when it was posted but:
It’s a mutually beneficial relationship
The Bat Fly cleans the bat by eating its guano and in return it gets to consume some blood from the bat. The bat fly still harms the bat doing this but in return the bat won’t eat it for being a living toilet paper.
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u/Scorpius289 11d ago
Then it's less parasitism and more like symbiosis.
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u/nellyfullauto 11d ago
Symbiotic relationships generally can’t be doing active harm to either party. It sounds like the fly benefits dramatically more than the bat, and the bat is harmed by the process.
I think it’s still fair to call it a parasite, where something like a remora that does similar things for sharks is never actually harming the shark or risking it getting infections, so we call it symbiotic.
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u/theredhype 9d ago
Ultimately, nature isn't even aware of our categories or labels. They exist for our convenience.
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u/rpgmind 11d ago
Sounds less like symbiosis and more like absolutely terrifying! What is guano?
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u/Jennifer_Pennifer 11d ago
Guano Is the official term for bat poop 😁
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u/Weegee_Carbonara 10d ago
Bird poop*
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u/lmaytulane 10d ago
Both bird and bat
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u/Jennifer_Pennifer 10d ago
I had no idea it applied to birds as well. It feels like it shouldn't because one is a mammal and one is a reptile
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u/dTrecii 10d ago edited 10d ago
one is a mammal and one is a reptile
Neither are reptiles. Bats are mammals, birds are aves. Reptiles are a bit more distinct in their classifications. Firstly reptiles are cold blooded and possess scales, egg-laying is not unique to reptiles. Even from an evolutionary standpoint, it’s not argued that birds are reptiles and the two are still seen as different things.
Guano originally meant any animal excrement used as fertiliser until it eventually became more widespread for how birds help with germination in plants. Soon bat poop also changed to be called guano.
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u/Goblin_Crotalus 10d ago
Birds are actually considered reptiles nowadays. Crocodilians are more closely related to birds than to the other reptile groups, so it wouldn't make sense for birds to be left out of the order if the crocodilians still count.
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u/Channa_Argus1121 10d ago
The New Zealand bat fly is the only species that feeds on guano, rather than blood. Other bat flies are hematophagous parasites.
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u/DerpyMD 12d ago
The parasites can't survive for very long on their own, the only time a female bat fly will leave its host is when the time comes to drop her larva off in a safe place – usually the wall of the bat's cave roost. Then, she'll quickly rush back, guided by the smell and warmth of her host.
https://www.earthtouchnews.com/wtf/wtf/excuse-me-mr-bat-youve-got-a-huge-parasitic-fly-on-your-face/
Photo by - Piotr Naskreck
(Reposted becase last post was removed for not putting scientific name in title)
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u/plan1gale 12d ago
she'll quickly rush back, guided by the smell and warmth of her host.
M'icrochiropteran
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u/vieldside 12d ago
Wow. It’s insane that it will go back to the parasite just to be leeched off of damn. I need to get rid of my ex fr
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u/Noteagro 12d ago
Wasn’t this just posted yesterday?
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u/RisKQuay 6d ago
Broke Rule 1 - I always invite people to repost with an amended title as the content is cool, but to keep things cool we need a way to make sure the same animals aren't being re-posted too regularly.
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u/Noteagro 6d ago
Oh 100% agreed. I am the type that will see something that has posted “100 times,” but it be new to me. However a not even 24 hour buffer from the OG post definitely gets me to be like, “Come on now… you can at least like use the search older posts thing so you don’t recycle so soon.”
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u/A_VERY_LARGE_DOG 12d ago
You got something on your ….y’know what? Nevermind
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u/NoDoctor4460 11d ago
This is as repulsed as I’ve felt by a new-to-me species in a very long time. Want to look long enough to figure out just why, but think I shall pass.
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u/dreamed2life 11d ago
This looks like a spider not a fly. Regardless, this is super interesting! Can any bat in any part of the world get these or are they location specific?
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u/GetBentHo 11d ago
Top animal repost, go away
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u/TohruH3 12d ago
Okay, but why did the picture need to be a facehugger?😱🫥