Free-ranging Van Gelder’s batBauerus dubiaquercus(Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) preying on dung beetles in southern Mexico
- 22 December 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH in Mammalia
- Vol. 86 (3), 252-256
- https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2021-0060
Abstract
We report the first prey species consumed by the free-ranging Van Gelder’s bat Bauerus dubiaquercus. We trapped four pregnant individuals of this species carrying freshly captured dung beetles. We describe the wing morphology and flight descriptors (wing loading and wing aspect ratio) of the species, which presents wings more suitable for capturing insects by aerial hawking, although the evidence suggests that is able to capture dung beetles of nearly 10% of its body mass in flight close to the ground. The species could obtain their prey while foraging on uncluttered pasture near forest edges.This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Influence of vegetation clutter on the capacity of ground foraging bats to capture preyJournal of Applied Ecology, 2010
- The Effect of the Landscape Matrix on the Distribution of Dung and Carrion Beetles in a Fragmented Tropical Rain ForestJournal of Insect Science, 2010
- Using scissors to quantify hardness of insects: do bats select for size or hardness?Journal of Zoology, 2006
- Feeding ecology of the bat Eptesicus fuscus: ‘preferred’ prey abundance as one factor influencing prey selection and diet breadthJournal of Zoology, 2003
- The implications of food hardness for diet in batsFunctional Ecology, 2003
- The bat fauna of Lamanai, Belize: roosts and trophic rolesJournal of Tropical Ecology, 2001
- Foraging behaviour and habitat use of the serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus) in southern EnglandJournal of Zoology, 1996
- Bauerus dubiaquercusMammalian Species, 1987
- Functional cranial analysis of large animalivorous bats (Microchiroptera)Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 1984
- Specialized Insectivory: Beetle-Eating and Moth-Eating Molossid BatsJournal of Mammalogy, 1979