Does a bat fly <i>Penicillidia jenynsii</i> discriminate its natural host bat by the odor from their body fur?

The author previously reported that a bat fly Penicillidia jenynsii inhabits exclusively the body fur of a bat Miniopterus fuliginous, and that this bat fly tends to approach and burrow into the fur of M. fuliginous and avoids the fur of a greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and a Japanese large-footed bat Miniopterus macrodactylus. In this study, the author attempted to determine whether P. jenynsii discriminates the fur of M. fuliginous from that of other bat species by chemical substances emitted from their fur. Tissue paper was rubbed repeatedly against the body fur of M. fuliginous or R. ferrumequinum. Then the M. fuliginous fur-rubbed paper and R. ferrumequinum fur-rubbed paper were placed in an experimental box side by side and bat flies were released in the box to see how they behave. The bat flies approached and burrowed much more frequently into M. fuliginous fur-rubbed paper than into R. ferrumequinum fur-rubbed paper. In addition to this experiment, two comparisons were made. The structures of the fur surfaces of the two bat species were compared using an electron microscope . Clear differences were observed. Volatile chemical substances from the fur of the two bat species were compared by gas chromatography. It was clarified that nonanal and hexanal were emitted more from the fur of M. fuliginous than from that of R. ferrumequinum.