JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Biotropica. ABSTRACTMist netting bats at 1 1 sites in the vicinity of Akumal, Mexico between 7 and 19 January 1991 produced 363 bats representing 20 species. A comparison of captures revealed significant differences in species diversity (Hs) between disturbed and undisturbed sites (as reflected by deforestation). Species in the subfamily Phyllostominae (family Phyllostomidae) were captured significantly more often at forested than deforested sites and thus appeared to be useful indicators of habitat disruption. The low intensity echolocation calls of phyllostomid bats make it unfeasible to monitor their distribution and abundance with bat detectors.

We observed the echolocation and hunting behaviour of Lasiurus borealis and Lasiurus cinereus from May to August of 1989, 1990, and 1991 to assess the role of feeding buzzes in the behaviour of echolocating bats attacking airborne prey. Feeding buzzes consist of short echolocation pulses produced at a rapid rate just before contact between a flying bat and its prey. The hypothesis that the duration of the feeding buzz reflects the size of the attacked prey was not supported by the data. The mean lengths of silent periods between the end of the feeding buzz and the next echolocation call were significantly longer after successful attacks than after unsuccessful attacks. There was, however, no threshold value unambiguously separating successful from unsuccessful attacks in either species. The responses of bats to tossed pebbles and to some insects indicated that during some feeding buzzes L. borealis and L. cinereus judged the nature and range of prey being attacked. Attacks by free-flying L. borealis on muted arctiid moths (Hypoprepia fucosa), combined with the rejection of these moths as food by captive bats, suggest that in this setting the clicks of these moths are aposematic signals, warning the bats of the moths' bad taste.

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