Food and foraging preferences of three pteropodid bats in southern India

Abstract

A study on the food, foraging and flight height in three species of pteropodid bats, namely Cynopterus sphinx, Rousettus leschenaultii and Pteropus giganteus was conducted in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts of southern Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 37 species of plants were identified as potential food plants of the pteropodid bats. The preference for fruits by pteropodids varied according to the developmental stages of fruits namely, immature, unripe and ripe. There is a relationship between the foraging activities of bats and the moon phase. Bats exhibit a varied foraging pattern and flight height. A variation in the foraging flight height was observed in C. sphinx and R. leschenaultii. R. leschenaultii was observed to have a higher foraging echelon than that of the C. sphinx. In our study we found that the C. sphinx forages normally at canopy level (up to 3.5m), R. leschenaultii forages at upper canopy levels (up to 9m) and P. giganteus at a height above the canopy area (>9m).

Pollination by the locally endangered island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) enhances fruit production of the economically important durian (Durio zibethinus)

“…Similar to findings from the above‐mentioned studies on kapok (Andriafidison et al., ; Nathan et al., ; Singaravelan & Marimuthu, ) and madhuca flowers (Nathan et al., ), flying foxes preferred the upper levels of a tree, whereas the smaller bats were more likely to feed in the lower levels. This vertical stratification was also observed for different pteropodid species feeding in fruit trees in southern India (Sudhakaran & Doss, ), and pteropodids caught in Fijian rainforest (Scanlon & Petit, ), and likely helps to avoid inter‐specific competition (Fischer, ; Fleming, ; Thomas & Fenton, ). Again, this spatial partitioning corroborates findings by Gould (, ), who reported that flying foxes visited most flowers in the upper canopy of durian trees, and that only small bats fed in the lower canopy.…”

Biodiversity of bats in Mysore city

“…P gignteus always stays above 17-20 feet above the ground, however C sphinx, C brachiotis, R lescheonaultii feed below this height. According to the earlier published data [9], C sphinx feeds upon leaves of Tamarindus indica plant but we have not observed any such behavior during our study. Out of 16 species of food plants of bats documented P giganteus was found to feed on only eight species of fruits.…”

High-resolution GPS tracking of Lyle's flying fox between temples and orchards in central Thailand

“…The majority of food plants was visited for fruits. Most of the fruits consumed by Lyle's flying fox in this study are also known to be used by other flying foxes in the Asia-Pacific region, notably mangos and other commercial fruits such as cashew and tamarind (Stier and Mildenstein 2005, Luskin 2009, Vendan and Kaleeswaran 2011, as well as different fig species (Stier and Mildenstein 2005, Luskin 2009, Sudhakaran and Doss 2012, Prasad et al 2014. Fruits in the genus Artocarpus and Syzygium are also repeatedly documented in the diet of flying foxes (Banack 1998, Nelson et al 2000a, Stier and Mildenstein 2005, Luskin 2009).…”