[Trematode parasites of Italian bats]

Data are presented on bat trematodes in Italy, whose previous list included only the following five species: Plagiorchis vespertilionis, Plagiorchis asper, Mesotretes peregrinus, Prosthodendrium chilostomum, Prosthodendrium longiforme. Between 1945 and 1981, 289 bats were examined belonging to 13 species. A total of twelve trematode species were identified, nine of which are recorded for the first time in Italy: Lecithodendrium linstowi, Lecithodendrium granulosum, Lecithodendrium rotundum, Prosthodendrium herardovae, Prosthodendrium hurkovaae, Prosthodendrium parvouterus, Pycnoporus heteroporus, Matovius rhinolophi, Parabascus lepidotus. For each parasite species, hosts, localities and number of specimens/host are reported. Special attention is devoted to P. vespertilionis with description of specimens remarkably different from the type form, to L. linstowi for peculiar specimens from Rhinolophus hipposideros, and to M. rhinolophi with additions to the original description especially concerning the vitelline glands' structure. Pycnoporus macrolaimus, identified in a collection of bat trematodes of the Institute of Parasitology of the University "La Sapienza" of Rome, is also recorded for the first time in Italy.