The diet of bats from Southeastern Brazil: the relation to echolocation and foraging behaviour

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fenton, M. Brock
Publication Date: 1999
Other Authors: Whitaker Jr, John O, Vonhof, Maarten J, Waterman, Jane M, Pedro, Wagner A, Aguiar, Ludmilla M.S, Baumgarten, Júlio E, Bouchard, Sylvie, Faria, Deborah M, Portfors, Christine V, Rautenbach, Naas I.L, Scully, William, Zortea, Marlon
Format: Article
Language: eng
Source: Repositório Institucional da UnB
Download full: http://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/25522
https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-81751999000400017
Summary: In this study the incidence of moths and beetles was examined from feces samples of bats that use different foraging behaviors. Twenty sites around the Fazenda Intervales, a Field Research Station located in São Paulo State, in southeastern Brazil were sampled. Feces were collected from bats caught in mist nets, Turtle Traps or hand nets and, in one case, from beneath a roost. Feces samples were taken from six species of bats: Micronycteris megalotis (Gray, 1842), Mimon bennettii (Gray, 1838), Furipterus horrens (F. Cuvier, 1828), Myotis riparius Handley, 1960, Myotis ruber (E. Geoffroy, 1806) and Histiotus velalus (I. Geoffroy, 1824). To record and describe the frequencies dominating bat echolocation calls, an Anabat II bat detector coupled with an Anabat ZCA interfaces and DOS laptop computers were used. The data show that Furipterus horrens feeds extensively on moths, as predicted from the features of its echolocation calls. Gleaning bats, whose echolocation calls are much less conspicuous to moths take a wide range of insect (and other) prey.