''Basilia fletcheri'' is parasitic bat fly in the genus '' Basilia'', in the subgenus ''Basilia''. It is found in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Taxonomic history

Hugh Scott Hugh Doggett Scott Jr. (November 11, 1900 – July 21, 1994) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1959 and in the U.S. Senate, from 195 ...

described this species in 1914. He named it after its collector,

Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher (25 March 1878 – 30 April 1950) was an English entomologist. Although an amateur lepidopterist who worked in the Royal Navy, he became an expert on "microlepidoptera" and was appointed as the second Imperial Entomolo ...

. Two specimens, a male and a female, were discovered on a

Dormer's bat Dormer's bat or Dormer's pipistrelle (''Scotozous dormeri'') is a species of vesper bat. It is the only species in its genus. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Pakistan. Its natural habitats are subtropical and tropical dry forests, a ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. Scott placed this species in the genus '' Penicillidia'' . In 1956, Oskar Theodor classified it as belonging to the '' Basilia'' genus, which is in the same subfamily as ''Penicillidia''.

Range

It was discovered in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Scott later reported that

Joseph Charles Bequaert Joseph Charles Bequaert was an American naturalist of Belgian origin, born 24 May 1886 in Torhout (Belgium) and died on 12 January 1982 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Clench WJ (1982). "Joseph Charles Bequaert". '' The Nautilus'' 96(2)page 35 Caree ...

sent him a specimen from

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, which Scott identified as this species, but Theodor later wrote this specimen was in fact '' B. punctuata''; other places specimens have been collected include

Navapur Navapur is a ''nagar panchayat'' (municipality) and headquarters for Navapur Taluka in Nandurbar district, in the state of Maharashtra, India. Geography Navapur municipality is situated on the border with the state of Gujarat. It is approxi ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Hosts

Hosts which specimens have been collected from include:

s ''Scotozous dormeri'' and

Lesser bamboo bat The lesser bamboo bat or lesser flat-headed bat (''Tylonycteris pachypus'') is one of the smallest species of vesper bat, and is native to Southeast Asia. Description The bat, the size of a bumble bee, is among the smallest mammals on earth, me ...

s ''Tylonycteris pachypus''.

Description

It is about 2.5 mm long and has a yellowish color.

References

External links