An African Bat Trypanosome in Stricticimex brevispinosus Usinger, 1959

SYNOPSIS. A trypanosome of the broad type belonging to the T. megadermae group has been discovered in the insectivorous bat, Hipposideros caffer Sundevall. No new specific name is proposed for the trypanosome. Bugs, Stricticimex brevispinosus Usinger 1959, were found infected with the bat blood forms in the stomach. Development was most active in the hindgut, the metacyclic trypanosomes being found in the rectal ampulla. Transmission must occur by contamination as is the case for T. lewisi (fleas), T. cruzi (bugs), and T. grayi (Glossina palpalis flies). With this contaminative type of infection now sufficiently established, it is highly probable that all trypanosomes known from Cheiroptera are transmitted in the same way which is classical for the trypanosomes belonging to the T. lewisi group defined by Hoare.