Effect of moonlight on the foraging behaviour of a megachiropteran bat Cynopterus sphinx

Abstract

We studied the in¯uence of moonlight upon the foraging activity pattern of the fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx. We observed the bats when foraging on the fruits of Calophyllum inophyllum and on the leaves of Mimusops elengi and Cassia ®stula for 31, 27 and 28 days, respectively at the botanical garden in the Madurai Kamaraj University campus. The number of feeding bouts was recorded every hour between 18:00 and 05:00. A feeding bout involves a bat landing on the tree and collecting a part (or whole) of the fruit or a leaf. The total number of feeding bouts was negatively correlated with per cent moonlight each night. The number of feeding bouts decreased during the waxing phases of the moon. During the period of new moon the mean number of feeding bouts was signi®cantly higher compared to the periods of other phases. During the ®rst quarter and the last quarter phases, feeding occurred more during the dark part of the night, especially when the bats foraged upon M. elengi and C. ®stula. While cloud cover enhanced the foraging activity, lightning and thunder suppressed it. Our study indicates that moonlight in¯uences the foraging activity of C. sphinx.

Different effects of temperature on foraging activity schedules in sympatric Myrmecia ants

“…The maintenance of such discrete seasonal and daily activity patterns allows animals to avoid predators, to reduce conflict with competitors and to optimally exploit food resources (Schoener, 1974;Kronfeld-Schor and Dayan, 2003). To determine suitable times of activity, animals may monitor environmental variables such as light (Kotler et al, 1991;Elangovan and Marimuthu, 2001;Narendra et al, 2010) and temperature (Grubb, 1978;Fraser et al, 1993) as well as anticipate daily events such as sunrise and sunset with the aid of their internal circadian clocks (de Groot, 1983;Welbergen, 2008).…”

Studi Keanekaragaman Jenis Kelelawar (Chiroptera) Pada Beberapa Tipe Ekosistem Di Camp Leakey Kawasan Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting (Tntp), Kalimantan Tengah

“…Muller et al (2007), menyatakan pada saat terang bulan ,kelelawar cenderung takut terhadap sergapan predator dan saat hujan, kelelawar cenderung untuk berteduh atau tetap di sarang. Selain itu, menurut Elangovan (2001) cahaya dari bulan purnama sangat berpengaruh terhadap aktivitas kelelawar, kegiatan mencari makan kelelawar berbanding terbalik dengan cahaya bulan, dimana kegiatan mencari makan sangat minim ketika bulan purnama. Oleh karena itu, Pada habitat hutan rawa, Kebanyakan sampel yang didapat dari keseluruhan jenis adalah genus Cynopterus sebanyak 30 individu.…”

Thermobiology, energetics and activity patterns of the Eastern tube-nosed bat (Nyctimene robinsoni) in the Australian tropics: effect of temperature and lunar cycle

“…Tyto multipunctata) (Law, 1997) and to a lesser extent snakes. For example, reduced activity during the full moon phase has been reported for frugivorous bats (Erkert, 1978;Haeussler and Erkert, 1978;Morrison, 1978;Morrison, 1980;Law, 1997;Presley et al, 2009;Elangovan and Marimuthu, 2001) and insectivorous bats (Lang et al, 2006). However, in insectivorous bats the relationship between activity and the lunar cycle seems to be more complex as they are both predator and prey (Lang et al, 2006).…”

“…This is generally explained by increased predation pressure, which seems to outweigh the advantage that could be gained in finding food. However, to our knowledge, only limited data are available for visually foraging frugivorous pteropodid bats (Law, 1997;Elangovan and Marimuthu, 2001). Hence it remains largely unknown how the lunar cycle affects small flying mammals that exclusively forage on fruit by using vision and thus face potential tradeoffs between enhanced foraging during moonlit nights while at the same time risking increased exposure to visually oriented nocturnal predators.…”