Brno loanvirus (BRNV) in bats inhabiting the urban area of Brno, Czech Republic.

Bats are known reservoirs of various emerging pathogens, and have recently been found to host a novel hantavirus, named Brno loanvirus (BRNV), from the Mammantavirinae subfamily (family Hantaviridae, order Bunyavirales). Here we report BRNV detection in bats from the urban area of Brno, Czech Republic in March 2022. Specifically, we uncovered a high prevalence of BRNV (8.

Changes in body size and fertility due to artificial and natural feeding of laboratory common bed bugs (Heteroptera: Cimicidae).

Rearing common bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) and other hematophagous insects is essential for basic, medical, and pest-control research. Logistically, acquiring fresh blood can be a challenge, while biologically, the eventual effects of different rearing and blood preparation protocols on bed bug genotype and phenotype pose a risk of biased research results.

Age-related mating rates among ecologically distinct lineages of bedbugs, Cimex lectularius.

Understanding how many mates an animal has in its lifetime is a critical factor in sexual selection. At the same time, differences in an organism's ecology, such as the quantity and quality of food, could be reflected in different mating rates. Mating rate had a significant effect on female net fitness (i.

Cold arousal - A mechanism used by hibernating bats to reduce the energetic costs of disturbance.

During the season of hibernation, temperate bats alternate between prolonged bouts of torpor with reduced body temperature and short arousals with a return to normothermy. Hibernating bats are sensitive to non-tactile stimuli and arouse following changes in microclimatic conditions or disturbance from other bats, potential predators, or humans. Here, we used temperature data loggers to register the skin temperature of 38 Myotis myotis bats over two winters (between January and March), during which regular visits were made to the hibernaculum.

Ecological values of intermittent rivers for terrestrial vertebrate fauna.

Rivers are generally considered critical habitats for biodiversity; however, this often ignores the fact that many rivers may run dry and support terrestrial as well as aquatic fauna. Here, we investigated the ecological value of intermittent rivers for terrestrial vertebrates by installing camera traps along rivers subject to varying dry periods in two contrasting European climatic zones. We then analysed i) species presence and behaviours (as a proxy of ecological functions) on perennial and intermittent streams; ii) environmental (hydrological and geomorphological) and anthropogenic factors affecting the frequency of occurrence and number of species recorded; and iii) the importance of hydrological factors as regards ecological functioning.

Seminal fluid and sperm diluent affect sperm metabolism in an insect: Evidence from NAD(P)H and flavin adenine dinucleotide autofluorescence lifetime imaging.

Sperm metabolism is fundamental to sperm motility and male fertility. Its measurement is still in its infancy, and recommendations do not exist as to whether or how to standardize laboratory procedures. Here, using the sperm of an insect, the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, we demonstrate that standardization of sperm metabolism is required with respect to the artificial sperm storage medium and a natural medium, the seminal fluid.

Male diet affects female fitness and sperm competition in human- and bat-associated lineages of the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius.

Sperm performance can vary in ecologically divergent populations, but it is often not clear whether the environment per se or genomic differences arising from divergent selection cause the difference. One powerful and easily manipulated environmental effect is diet. Populations of bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) naturally feed either on bat or human blood.

Bat aggregational response to pest caterpillar emergence.

Moths (Lepidoptera) are major agricultural and forest pests in many parts of the world, including Europe, with many causing great economic damage to crops, horticultural plants, stored items, and wool products. Here, we focus on two ecologically similar inchworms, Operophtera brumata and Erannis defoliaria, known for their high foliage consumption during the spring emergence of caterpillars. We hypothesise that bats could play a role in reducing pests such as caterpillars by switching to this abundant emerging prey.

Urinary shedding of leptospires in palearctic bats.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonotic infection of worldwide occurrence. Bats, like other mammalian reservoirs, may be long-term carriers that maintain endemicity of infection and shed viable leptospires in urine. Direct and/or indirect contact with these Leptospira shedders is the main risk factor as regards public health concern.

Active surveillance for antibodies confirms circulation of lyssaviruses in Palearctic bats.

Background: Palearctic bats host a diversity of lyssaviruses, though not the classical rabies virus (RABV). As surveillance for bat rabies over the Palearctic area covering Central and Eastern Europe and Siberian regions of Russia has been irregular, we lack data on geographic and seasonal patterns of the infection.

Results: To address this, we undertook serological testing, using non-lethally sampled blood, on 1027 bats of 25 species in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Slovenia between 2014 and 2018.

Reproductive compatibility among populations and host-associated lineages of the common bed bug ( L.).

As populations differentiate across geographic or host-association barriers, interpopulation fertility is often a measure of the extent of incipient speciation. The bed bug, L., was recently found to form two host-associated lineages within Europe: one found with humans (human-associated, HA) and the other found with bats (bat-associated, BA).

Low seasonal variation in greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) blood parameters.

The greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) is a flagship species for the protection of hibernation and summer maternity roosts in the Western Palearctic region. A range of pathogenic agents is known to put pressure on populations, including the white-nose syndrome fungus, for which the species shows the highest prevalence and infection intensity of all European bat species. Here, we perform analysis of blood parameters characteristic for the species during its natural annual life cycle in order to establish reference values.

Identification and age-dependence of pteridines in bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) and bat bugs (C. pipistrelli) using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Determining the age of free-living insects, particularly of blood-sucking species, is important for human health because such knowledge critically influences the estimates of biting frequency and vectoring ability. Genetic age determination is currently not available. Pteridines gradually accumulate in the eyes of insects and their concentrations is the prevailing method.

Spatial networks differ when food supply changes: Foraging strategy of Egyptian fruit bats.

Animals are faced with a range of ecological constraints that shape their behavioural decisions. Habitat features that affect resource abundance will also have an impact, especially as regards spatial distribution, which will in turn affect associations between the animals. Here we utilised a network approach, using spatial and genetic data, to describe patterns in use of space (foraging sites) by free-ranging Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) at the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt.

Numerous cold arousals and rare arousal cascades as a hibernation strategy in European Myotis bats.

Hibernating bats optimise the duration of torpor bouts and arousals in relation to hibernaculum microclimatic conditions and fat reserves. Clustering has significant physiological and ecological benefits, promoting successful hibernation of individuals. Such aggregations may help maintain optimal temperatures, allowing better energy utilisation than in solitarily bats.

Hibernation temperature-dependent infection intensity in Palearctic bats.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease caused by that is devastating to Nearctic bat populations but tolerated by Palearctic bats. Temperature is a factor known to be important for fungal growth and bat choice of hibernation. Here we investigated the effect of temperature on the pathogenic fungal growth in the wild across the Palearctic.

Alterations in the health of hibernating bats under pathogen pressure.

In underground hibernacula temperate northern hemisphere bats are exposed to Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungal agent of white-nose syndrome. While pathological and epidemiological data suggest that Palearctic bats tolerate this infection, we lack knowledge about bat health under pathogen pressure. Here we report blood profiles, along with body mass index (BMI), infection intensity and hibernation temperature, in greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis).

An evaluation of odor repellent effectiveness in prevention of wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) amount to 11% of all registered traffic crashes in the Czech Republic causing, apart from numerous deaths and serious injuries to animals, property damage and injuries to car passengers. Odor repellents have the potential to lower the overall number of WVC and allow animals to cross roads at the same time. We tested the effectiveness of odor repellent preparation in prevention of WVC.

White-nose syndrome pathology grading in Nearctic and Palearctic bats.

While white-nose syndrome (WNS) has decimated hibernating bat populations in the Nearctic, species from the Palearctic appear to cope better with the fungal skin infection causing WNS. This has encouraged multiple hypotheses on the mechanisms leading to differential survival of species exposed to the same pathogen. To facilitate intercontinental comparisons, we proposed a novel pathogenesis-based grading scheme consistent with WNS diagnosis histopathology criteria.

Novel hantavirus identified in European bat species Nyctalus noctula.

Hantaviruses are emerging RNA viruses that cause human diseases predominantly in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Besides rodents, insectivores and bats serve as hantavirus reservoirs. We report the detection and genome characterization of a novel bat-borne hantavirus isolated from insectivorous common noctule bat.

Deeply torpid bats can change position without elevation of body temperature.

Because body temperature is tightly coupled to physiological function, hibernating animals entering deep torpor are typically immobile. We analysed thermal behaviour and locomotory activity of hibernating greater mouse-eared bats Myotis myotis and found two types of movement behaviour related to body temperature, i.e.