Bat flies: source of supplement nutrients for an endemic Malagasy fruit bat

Among frugivorous vertebrates, the nutritional composition of consumed fruits often needs supplementing by other food types, such as leaves, pollen or invertebrates, to meet dietary requirements. The endemic Malagasy fruit bat, Rousettus madagascariensis (Pteropodidae), actively feeds on their dipteran fly ectoparasites, principally family Nycteribiidae and Streblidae, during grooming activities. Since bat flies take blood meals from hosts, consumption these bats might represent a mechanism recycling reducing loss important components, minerals proteins fatty acids. contribution ectoparasites diet R. is 4–10% daily protein This an proportion for species considered be exclusively frugivorous.