Ultrasound Social Calls Made by Greater Horseshoe Bats (<i>Rhinolophus ferrumequinum</i>) in a Nursery Roost

Andrews, Margaret; Andrews, Peter T.

doi:10.3161/001.005.0212

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Other mammals often use visual or tactile precopulatory displays to indicate sexual intention and to synchronize sexual behaviors, such as baboons [32]. But the greater horseshoe bats have none of the displays except vocalizations [33], so the dorsal position of the male and restraining of the female might be misconstrued by the females as aggressive rather than sexual behavior, especially in the dense groups of bats within roosts. The pure SCF calls have very short durations and interpulse intervals, as well the clear peak frequency and amplitude, which would be helpful to convey sexual intent in a rapid and unambiguous way, thereby promoting the close contact required for mating.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocalization during copulation behavior in greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

2013

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Vocal communication plays an important role for individual recognition and male-female interaction during mating in greater horseshoe bats, especially in respect to mate fidelity, which ensures that the bats can maintain a stable social organization. Few studies, however, have addressed the calling behavior during copulating in bats. Here, we initially report the copulation vocalizations and behaviors of both male and female greater horseshoe bats. During copulation, the male assumed a dorsal position and arched his back, arming around the female using his feet and thumbs. The male repeatedly produced very short constant frequency (SCF) syllables with high intensity and repetition rate (male 1: 16.48±4.8 ms, male 2: 17.79±4.03 ms) when he tried to insert the penis into the female, and then long syllables (male 1: 42.08±12.67 ms, male 2: 43.02±11.44 ms) after penile insertion. The female bats sometime refused the male bats in the early phase of copulations as emitting noise bursts and broad-band vocalizations, but kept silence during actual copulation. We also found that the SCF copulation calls of one male remained stable peak frequencies on different copulation days although its echolocation call frequency varied each day. Moreover, different male individuals maintained their own "private frequency" in the SCF copulation calls. Therefore, we predicted that the SCF copulation calls may serve as an indicator for female greater horseshoe bats to recognize the mating males in order to maintain mate fidelity because horseshoe bats exhibit sexual segregation before mating. Our results stipulate further studies on mating system and copulation strategies in polygynous bats. Such work may also aid in promoting the preservation of greater horseshoe bats.greater horseshoe bat, copulation, communication calls, mate fidelity Citation:Liu Y, Metzner W, Feng J. Vocalization during copulation behavior in greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocalization during copulation behavior in greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

2013

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“…Bats will fly if temperatures are above 8°C (Crump 1983−2002, Andrews & Andrews 2004) when insects are active (Swift et al 1985), but flight is energetically demanding (Hughes et al 1995), and if insect densities are low hunting may not be profitable. Pipistrelle bats lose significant body mass during hibernation , and the period after hibernation is likely to be the time of highest mortality (Sendor & Simon 2003).…”

Section: Effect Of Rising Temperatures On the Viability Of Pipistrellmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of weather on a population of soprano pipistrelle bats in West Wales, UK: a 20 year study estimates population viability

Andrews¹,

Crump²,

Harries³

et al. 2016

Endang. Species. Res.

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A nursery roost of the soprano pipstrelle bat Pipistrellus pygmaeus has been monitored continuously between 1 April and 27 September (Weeks 1−26) for 20 yr to promote conservation of the species, which declined over the last century. The long-term study, essential to estimate a reliable population trend, is linked to environmental changes as possible causes of decline. The main emergence was from May to July (Weeks 6−18) when 550 ± 190 (SD) P. pygmaeus were counted. Analysis showed that the year-to-year change in population size of female P. pygmaeus (ΔN) and the time of the peak exit count of the females from the roost in May to June could be predicted from the integrated air temperature (degree days, D) between 1 January and 31 March.

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“…Horseshoe bats communicate by a diverse repertoire of social calls (Andrews & Andrews, 2003; Ma et al. , 2006) that are mainly context‐specific: they are emitted only in some circumstances and convey specific messages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent echolocation call frequencies in insular rhinolophids (Chiroptera): a case of character displacement?

Russo

Mucedda²,

Bello

et al. 2007

Journal of Biogeography

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Ultrasound Social Calls Made by Greater Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) in a Nursery Roost

Cited by 25 publications

References 22 publications

Vocalization during copulation behavior in greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

Vocalization during copulation behavior in greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

Influence of weather on a population of soprano pipistrelle bats in West Wales, UK: a 20 year study estimates population viability

Divergent echolocation call frequencies in insular rhinolophids (Chiroptera): a case of character displacement?

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