Seasonality in Gum and Honeydew Feeding in Gray Mouse Lemurs

Abstract

Exudates represent an important component of the natural diets of small-bodied primates. For mouse lemurs, the impact of forest type and seasonal predictability on gum consumption has recently been intensively investigated. The goal of our study was to extend our knowledge regarding the seasonality of feeding ecology of Microcebus murinus, first, to investigate the relative consumption of gum and hemipteran honeydew, a sap-derived product, and, second to assess respective foraging strategies in a highly seasonal and quite predictable environment. We hypothesized that (1) food resources vary according to the season, (2) gum and honeydew represent keystone food resources during periods of food scarcity, and (3) lemurs revisit productive stationary feeding sites during the period of food scarcity. We studied gray mouse lemurs in the dry deciduous forest of the Ankarafantsika National Park in northwestern Madagascar. We radiocollared seven M. murinus females and performed focal observations on their feeding behavior during the end of the dry and the beginning of the rainy season. During the dry season, the period of food scarcity, mouse lemurs mainly consumed gum and honeydew. Subjects revisited the same feeding sites within the same and over several nights. During the rainy season, the period of food abundance, lemurs consumed mainly nectar from shrub flowers and did not show gum or honeydew feeding. To our knowledge, the consumption of honeydew by lemurs is a unique case of sap feeding by proxy in a mammal. Further investigations will focus on the characterization of the ecological consequences of such an interaction between mouse lemurs, hemipteran larvae, and host plants.

Unique Spectrum of Activity of Prosimian TRIM5α against Exogenous and Endogenous Retroviruses

“…The ringtailed lemur is a large diurnal group-living and partially terrestrial lemur species that occurs exclusively in the very dry regions of southern Madagascar (34). The gray mouse lemur is a small nocturnal solitary forager, which is strictly arboreal, with a very broad omnivorous diet that includes arthropods, gum, fruits, insect secretions, and nectar (19). It has a large distribution from southern to northwestern Madagascar.…”

Marked variation between winter and spring gut microbiota in free-ranging Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana)

“…For example, in winter, NHPs living in temperate environments eat a wide variety of low-quality foods 13 . Low-quality foods like mature leaves, gum and roots are often high in cellulose and dietary fiber which are difficult to digest 14 15 . Previous studies have found that primates shift their activity budgets and foraging patterns in response to ecological pressures imposed during periods of food scarcity 9 16 17 18 .…”

Invasive wasps, not birds, dominate in a temperate honeydew system

“…Honeydew feeding has been reported for reptiles (Foelling et al 2001;Towns 2002), mammals (Roberts 1989;Joly-Radko & Zimmermann 2010) and marsupials (Smith 1984). Vertebrate utilization of honeydew is most likely to occur when the Hemiptera infestation creates a large or concentrated food resource.…”

“…In these situations, honeydew foraging can be energetically rewarding for larger animals, and honeydew can be a significant dietary component for some vertebrate species. Honeydew feeding has been reported for reptiles (Foelling et al 2001;Towns 2002), mammals (Roberts 1989;Joly-Radko & Zimmermann 2010) and marsupials (Smith 1984). However, birds appear to be the major vertebrate consumers as honeydew feeding has been reported in many bird families and in many locations around the world (refs cited in Appendix S1, Edwards 1982;refs cited in Greenberg et al 1993;Oliver 2000;Murphy & Kelly 2001;Lara et al 2011).…”

“…Honeydew feeding has been reported for reptiles (Foelling et al . 2001; Towns 2002), mammals (Roberts 1989; Joly‐Radko & Zimmermann 2010) and marsupials (Smith 1984). However, birds appear to be the major vertebrate consumers as honeydew feeding has been reported in many bird families and in many locations around the world (refs cited in Appendix S1, Edwards 1982; refs cited in Greenberg et al .…”