Food Habits of Cave Bats from Zambia, Africa

Whitaker, John O.; Black, Hal L.

doi:10.2307/1379533

Cited by 55 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…data. ), Myotis nattereri (Beck 1995) and in larger amounts also in Nycteris thebaica (Whitaker & Black 1976). We propose that, in light of these findings, caterpillars may be important food items for other gleaning insectivorous bats as well.…”

Section: Methodological Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 72%

Gleaning bats as underestimated predators of herbivorous insects: diet of Micronycteris microtis (Phyllostomidae) in Panama

Kalka

Kalko

2005

J. Trop. Ecol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Predators of herbivorous insects play important roles in tropical ecosystems as herbivory may affect structure and diversity of plant populations. Although insectivorous bats are particularly abundant and diverse in the tropics, their impact on herbivorous insects is little understood. To assess prey consumption, we observed the gleaning bat Micronycteris microtis (Phyllostomidae) continuously for 3 mo including 16 full nights at a nightly feeding roost on Barro Colorado Island in Panama using infrared videotaping combined with collection of prey remains. Individual bats consumed about 61-84% of their body mass in arthropods per night. Diet analysis revealed a high percentage of herbivorous insects, constituting more than half (51%) of all prey and over 70% of prey biomass. Dominant prey were caterpillars (33% of prey biomass), and other herbivores including crickets, katydids, scarab beetles and phasmids. Furthermore, a novel feeding behaviour was observed as M. microtis selectively discarded parts of intestines of phytophagous insects before consumption, probably to avoid intake of plant material either for ballast reduction and/or for protection from secondary plant compounds. Combined with estimated feeding rates of insects in sympatric bat species, our data suggest that gleaning bats are important predators of herbivorous insects and might be underestimated reducers of herbivory in the tropics.

show abstract

Section: Methodological Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 72%

Gleaning bats as underestimated predators of herbivorous insects: diet of Micronycteris microtis (Phyllostomidae) in Panama

Kalka

Kalko

2005

J. Trop. Ecol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the Western Long-eared vespertilionid Euderma maculatum emits echolocation calls with the most energy between 8 and 15 kHz and appears to feed heavily on moths . At the other end of the spectrum, the hipposiderid Cloeotis percivali echolocates as high as 212 kHz and feeds almost exclusively on moths (Whitaker and Black 1976;Jacobs 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Support for the allotonic frequency hypothesis in an insectivorous bat community

Schoeman

Jacobs

2003

Oecologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The allotonic frequency hypothesis proposes that certain insectivorous bat species can prey upon moths that can hear bat echolocation calls by using echolocation frequencies outside the sensitivity range of moth ears. The hypothesis predicts that the peak frequencies of bat echolocation calls are correlated with the incidence of moths in the diets of these bats. The aim of this study was to test this prediction on a bat community dominated by bats using low duty cycle echolocation calls, i.e. aerial foraging, insectivorous species using frequency modulated calls. The community consisted of nine species, two molossids, Sauromys petrophillus and Tadarida aegyptiaca, five vespertilionids, Eptesicus capensis, Eptesicus hottentotus, Miniopteris schreibersii, Myotis tricolor, and Myotis lesueuri, one rhinolophid, Rhinolophus clivosus, and one nycterid, Nycteris thebaica. The insect fauna in the habitat used by the bat community was suited to the testing of the allotonic frequency hypothesis because more than 90% of the moths comprising the insect fauna were tympanate. These included Pyralidae (3.8%), Geometridae (44.9%), Notodontidae (3.8%), Arctiidae (4.6%), Lymantriidae (0.8%) and Noctuidae (32.4%). As predicted, peak echolocation frequency was correlated with the incidence of moths in the diets of these nine species (r=0.98, df=7, P<0.01). Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that echolocation frequency (t=9.91, n=129, P<0.001) was a better predictor of diet than forearm length (t=5.51, n=129, P<0.001) or wing area (t=-3.41, n=129, P<0.001). This suggests that the selection pressure exerted by moth hearing might have acted directly on call frequency and secondarily on body size and wing morphology, as part of the same adaptive complex. It is unlikely that dietary differences were due to temporal and spatial differences in the availability of prey because the pattern of differences in skull morphology of the nine species supported our dietary analyses. The skull morphology of a bat represents a historical record of the kind of diet it has become adapted to over its evolutionary history. These results suggest that prey defences may mediate other factors structuring bat communities, e.g. competition. Competition may be reduced for those species of bats that can circumvent prey defences.

show abstract

“…The results from individual sites were added together providing the minimum number of prey specimens per order for the month. To estimate the importance of each order in the diet, we calculated percent composition, whereby items of a specific order were divided by the totalled number of specimens in all orders in that month, and multiplied by 100 (Whitaker and Black, 1976;Whitaker, 1988;McAney et al, 1991). To make comparison with previous studies more meaningful and to follow seasonal trends, we analysed the above data in four seasonal groups: spring (SeptemberNovember), summer (DecemberFebruary), autumn (MarchMay) and winter (JuneAugust).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, no published research has examined the diet of these bats at a single locality, over a complete year. Most studies have been observational (Felton, 1956;Makin, 1979;McLellan, 1986), providing snapshots in time (e.g., Chapman, 1958;Fenton, 1975;Whitaker and Black, 1976;Fenton et al, 1977;Fenton and Thomas, 1980;Bowie et al, 1999;Feldman et al, 2000), but LaVal and LaVal (1980) examined the diet of N. thebaica over a six-month period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding Ecology of the Common Slit-Faced Bat (Nycteris thebaica) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Seamark

Bogdanowicz

2002

Acta Chiropterologica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Food Habits of Cave Bats from Zambia, Africa

Cited by 55 publications

References 0 publications

Gleaning bats as underestimated predators of herbivorous insects: diet of Micronycteris microtis (Phyllostomidae) in Panama

Gleaning bats as underestimated predators of herbivorous insects: diet of Micronycteris microtis (Phyllostomidae) in Panama

Support for the allotonic frequency hypothesis in an insectivorous bat community

Feeding Ecology of the Common Slit-Faced Bat (Nycteris thebaica) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About