Feeding ecology of the common slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

• Autorzy: Seamark E.C.J. , Bogdanowicz W.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Monthly samples of arthropod remains (n = 1,190 culled parts) collected over a year from under a Nycteris thebaica night roost in the Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve (South Africa) show that prey eaten by bats vary significantly by order but not by season. Nevertheless, there was a significant interaction between the prey category and season, suggesting that these two factors are not independent from each other. Coleoptera (49.6% in the culled parts, calculated as percent composition) dominated in spring (September-November), Orthoptera (38.8%) in summer (December-February), Hemiptera (42.8%) in autumn (March-May), and Lepidoptera (36.3%) in winter (June-August). The diet also included a frog and a small fish (n = 2 parts).

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Chiropterologica
• Rocznik: 2002
• Tom: 04
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.49-54,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Seamark E.C.J.

• Department of Nature Conservation, Mangosuthu Technikon, P.O. Box 12363, Jacobs 4026, Republic of South Africa

autor

Bogdanowicz W.

Bibliografia

• Acocks, J. P. H. 1988. Veld types of South Africa. 3rd ed. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa, 57: 14-17.
• Aldridge, H. D. J. N., and I. L. Rautenbach. 1987. Morphology, echolocation and resource partitioning in insectivorous bats. Journal of Animal Ecology, 56: 763-778.
• Aldridge, H. D. J. N., M. Obrist, H. G. Merriam, and M. B. Fenton. 1990. Roosting, vocalizations, and foraging by the African bat, Nycteris thebaica. Journal of Mammalogy, 71: 242-246.
• Bowie, R. C. K., D. S. Jacobs, and P. J. Taylor. 1999. Resource use by two morphologically similar insectivorous bats (Nycteris thebaica and Hipposideros caffer). South African Journal of Zoology, 34: 27-33.
• Bozinovic, F., and M. A. Mendez. 1997. Role of dietary fatty acids on energetics and torpor in the Chilean mouse-opossum Thylamys elegans. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, A116: 101-104.
• Chapman, R. F. 1958. Some observations on the food of a bat. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 13: 188-192.
• Feldman, R., J. O. Whitaker, Jr., Y. Yom-Tov. 2000. Dietary composition and habitat use in a desert insectivorous bat community in Israel. Acta Chiropterologica, 2: 15-22.
• Felton, H. 1956. Fledermäuse fressen Skorpione. Natur und Volk, 86: 53-57.
• Fenton, M. B. 1975. Observations on the biology of some Rhodesian bats, including a key to the Chiroptera of Rhodesia. Life Sciences Contributions Royal Ontario Museum, 104: 1-27.
• Fenton, M. B., and D. W. Thomas. 1980. Dry season overlap in activity patterns, habitat use, and prey selection by sympatric African insectivorous bats. Biotropica, 12: 81-90.
• Fenton, M. B., N. G. H. Boyle, T. M. Harrison, and D. J. Oxley. 1977. Activity patterns, habitat use, and prey selection by some African insectivorous bats. Biotropica, 9: 73-85.
• Fenton, M. B., R. M. Brigham, A. M. Mills, and I. L. Rautenbach. 1985. The roosting and foraging areas of Epomophorus wahlbergi (Peteropodidae) and Scotophilus viridis (Vespertilionidae) in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Journal of Mammalogy, 66: 461-468.
• Fenton, M. B., D. H. M. Cumming, J. M. Hutton, and C. M. Swanepool. 1987. Foraging and habitat use by Nycteris grandis (Chiroptera: Nycteridae) in Zimbabwe. Journal of Zoology (London), 211: 709-716.
• Fenton, M. B., C. L. Gaudet, and M. L. Leonard. 1983. Feeding behaviour of the bats Nycteris grandis and Nycteris thebaica (Nycteridae) in captivity. Journal of Zoology (London), 200: 347-354.
• Geiser, F., B. Stahl, and R. P. Learmonth. 1992. The effect of dietary fatty acids on the pattern of torpor in a marsupial. Physiological Zoology, 65: 1236-1245.
• Grey, P. A., M. B. Fenton, and V. Van Cakenberghe. 1999. Nycteris thebaica. Mammalian Species, 612: 1-8.
• LaVal, R. K., and M. L. LaVal. 1980. Prey selection by slit-faced bat Nycteris thebaica (Chiroptera: Nycteridae) in Natal, South Africa. Biotropica, 12: 241-246.
• Makin, D. 1979. The quest for Israel’s bats. Israel Land Naturalist, 5(1): 28-34.
• McAney, C., C. Shiel, C. Sullivan, and J. Fairley. 1991. The analysis of droppings. Occasional Publication, The Mammal Society, London, 14: 1-48.
• McDonald, J. T., I. L. Rautenbach, and J. A. J. Nel. 1990. Foraging ecology of bats observed at De Hoop Provincial Nature Reserve, southern Cape Province. South African Journal of Zoology, 20(4): 133-145.
• McLellan, L. J., 1986. Notes on bats of Sudan. American Museum Novitates, 2839: 1-12.
• StatSoft Inc. 2000. Statistica for Windows [Computer program manual]. StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, OK.
• Whitaker, J. O., Jr. 1988. Food habits analysis of insectivorous bats. Pp. 171-189, in Ecological and behavioural methods for the study of bats (T. H. 1 Kunz, ed.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 533 pp.
• Whitaker, J. O., Jr., and H. Black. 1976. Food habits of cave bats from Zambia, Africa. Journal of Mammalogy, 57: 199-204.