Weather, ultrasonic, cranial and body traits predict insect diet hardness in a Central Mexican bat community

Insectivorous bats exhibit food preferences for specific attributes in their prey. Hardness has been defined as an important prey attribute, and in some cases a limiting factor in foraging decisions for smaller compared to larger bat species. The goal of this study was to identify which factors infl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mammal research 2023-07, Vol.68 (3), p.273-282
Main Authors: Ayala-Berdon, Jorge, Martínez Gómez, Margarita, Ponce, Andrés Ramírez, Beamonte-Barrientos, Rene, Vázquez, Jorge, Rodriguez-Peña, Olga Nelly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Ecology
Bats
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Body weight
Diet
Echolocation
Evolutionary Biology
Feces
Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management
Food preferences
Life Sciences
Mandible
Original Paper
Phylogeny
Prey
Skull
Vespertilionidae
Weather
Zoology
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Summary:Insectivorous bats exhibit food preferences for specific attributes in their prey. Hardness has been defined as an important prey attribute, and in some cases a limiting factor in foraging decisions for smaller compared to larger bat species. The goal of this study was to identify which factors influence the selection of prey hardness in a vespertilionid bat community. We investigated food consumed by bats by analyzing fecal samples obtained from eight bat species coexisting in a mountain ecosystem of central Mexico and correlate non-phylogenetically and phylogenetically prey hardness to weather, bat´s body, cranial and ultrasonic call structure variables. Results showed that diet of vespertilionid bats was mainly represented by Diptera, Neuroptera, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera consumption. The qualitative prey hardness index (From soft 1 to hard 5) ranked bats as: Myotis melanorhinus , Corynorhinus mexicanus , Myotis volans , Myotis californicus (
ISSN:2199-2401
2199-241X
DOI:10.1007/s13364-023-00678-2