Abstract:
Polyctenidae bugs are rarely studied, hematophagous, and highly specialized ectoparasites
of bats. There are only 32 described species worldwide, including six species
in the Afrotropical region. Knowledge on these parasites is limited, and most studies
are restricted to the New World polyctenid species. Here we report additional
records of Adroctenes horvathi from Kenya and South Africa, as well as Hypoctenes
faini from Rwanda. We present an updated list of published polyctenid records in the
Afrotropical region indicating their host specificity and their geographical distribution.
We report global infection patterns and sex ratio of polyctenids based on previously
published data, including Old and New World species. Lastly, we demonstrate
the first molecular phylogeny of Polyctenidae, showing their phylogenetic relationship
with the closely related family Cimicidae.
