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Background  Bat flies (Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) are among the most specialized families of the order Diptera. Members of these two related families have an obligate ectoparasitic lifestyle on bats, and they are known disease vectors for their hosts. However, bat flies have their own ectoparasites: fungi of the order Laboulbeniales. In Europe, members of the Nycteribiidae are parasitized by four species belonging to the genus  Arthrorhynchus . We carried out a systematic survey of the distribution and fungus-bat fly associations of the genus in central Europe (Hungary, Romania).    Results  We encountered the bat fly  Nycteribia pedicularia  and the fungus  Arthrorhynchus eucampsipodae  as new country records for Hungary. The following bat-bat fly associations are for the first time reported:  Nycteribia kolenatii  on  Miniopterus schreibersii ,  Myotis blythii ,  Myotis capaccinii  and  Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ;  Penicillidia conspicua  on  Myotis daubentonii ; and  Phthiridium biarticulatum  on  Myotis capaccinii . Laboulbeniales infections were found on 45 of 1,494 screened bat flies (3.0%). We report two fungal species:  Arthrorhynchus eucampsipodae  on  Nycteribia schmidlii , and  A. nycteribiae  on  N. schmidlii ,  Penicillidia conspicua , and  P. dufourii. Penicillidia conspicua  was infected with Laboulbeniales most frequently (25%,  n  = 152), followed by  N. schmidlii  (3.1%,  n  = 159) and  P. dufourii  (2.0%,  n  = 102). Laboulbeniales seem to prefer female bat fly hosts to males. We think this might be due to a combination of factors: female bat flies have a longer life span, while during pregnancy female bat flies are significantly larger than males and accumulate an excess of fat reserves. Finally, ribosomal DNA sequences for  A. nycteribiae  are presented.    Conclusions  We screened ectoparasitic bat flies from Hungary and Romania for the presence of ectoparasitic Laboulbeniales fungi.  Arthrorhynchus eucampsipodae  and  A. nycteribiae  were found on three species of bat flies. This study extends geographical and host ranges of both bat flies and Laboulbeniales fungi. The sequence data generated in this work contribute to molecular phylogenetic studies of the order Laboulbeniales. Our survey shows a complex network of bats, bat flies and Laboulbeniales fungi, of which the hyperparasitic fungi are rare and species-poor. Their host insects, on the other hand, are relatively abundant and diverse.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2022-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Parasites of parasites of bats: Laboulbeniales (Fungi: Ascomycota) on bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) in central Europe