Food habits of bats from Indiana

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 877-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
John O. Whitaker Jr.

The stomachs of 3 Myotis keenii (Merriam), 16 M. lucifugus (Le Conte), 4 M. sodalis (Miller and Allen), 2 Lasionycteris noctivagans (Le Conte), 23 Pipistrellus subflavus (Cuvier), 184 Eptesicus fuscus (Beauvois), 128 Lasiurus borealis (Müller), 3 L. cinereus (Beauvois), and 2 Nycticeius humeralis Rafinesque were examined. The four most common bats of Indiana used as their most common foods, different major groups of insects, beetles in the case of Eptesicus, moths in Lasiurus borealis and Myotis lucifugus and leaf hoppers in Pipistrellus. Eptesicus fuscus did not appear to feed in winter. Weaning in that species appeared to occur about July 1.

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 791-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena N. Measures

One hundred and sixty-nine bats belonging to 6 different species and collected from 4 ecological zones (aspen parkland, boreal forest, grassland, and montane) in Alberta, Canada, during 1988 and 1989 were examined for helminths. Forty bats were infected with the stomach nematode Longibucca lasiura McIntosh and Chitwood, 1934. Sample size, prevalence, and mean intensity (with range in parentheses) of L. lasiura for the 6 species of bat were as follows: Myotis lucifugus, N = 130, 27%, 39 (1–121); Myotis ciliolabrum, N = 10, 10%, 1; Eptesicus fuscus, N = 6, 33%, 12 (2–22); Lasionycteris noctivagans, N = 2, 100%, 22 (5–39). Myotis evotis (N = 9) and Lasiurus cinereus (N = 3) were not infected. Longibucca lasiura was found in bats from all ecological zones except the boreal forest. This parasite was found in bats active during summer (June to August) and in hibernating M. lucifugus collected in September and April.


1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Schowalter ◽  
Lawrence D. Harder ◽  
Bruce H. Treichel

Determination of age of several species of vespertilionid bats by counting incremental lines in dentine, cementum, and peridontal bone is described. The technique was most effective for aging Eptesicus fuscus and Lasionycteris noctivagans and less so for Myotis lucifugus. Incremental lines in specimens of Lasiurus cinereus and Lasiurus borealis were clearly defined, while those in a Myotis californicus were not. Longevity of E. fuscus and longevity and apparent age structure of M. lucifugus agree with the findings of published banding studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan L. Pannkuk ◽  
Nicole A. S.-Y. Dorville ◽  
Yvonne A. Dzal ◽  
Quinn E. Fletcher ◽  
Kaleigh J. O. Norquay ◽  
...  

AbstractWhite-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emergent wildlife fungal disease of cave-dwelling, hibernating bats that has led to unprecedented mortalities throughout North America. A primary factor in WNS-associated bat mortality includes increased arousals from torpor and premature fat depletion during winter months. Details of species and sex-specific changes in lipid metabolism during WNS are poorly understood and may play an important role in the pathophysiology of the disease. Given the likely role of fat metabolism in WNS and the fact that the liver plays a crucial role in fatty acid distribution and lipid storage, we assessed hepatic lipid signatures of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) at an early stage of infection with the etiological agent, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). Differences in lipid profiles were detected at the species and sex level in the sham-inoculated treatment, most strikingly in higher hepatic triacylglyceride (TG) levels in E. fuscus females compared to males. Interestingly, several dominant TGs (storage lipids) decreased dramatically after Pd infection in both female M. lucifugus and E. fuscus. Increases in hepatic glycerophospholipid (structural lipid) levels were only observed in M. lucifugus, including two phosphatidylcholines (PC [32:1], PC [42:6]) and one phosphatidylglycerol (PG [34:1]). These results suggest that even at early stages of WNS, changes in hepatic lipid mobilization may occur and be species and sex specific. As pre-hibernation lipid reserves may aid in bat persistence and survival during WNS, these early perturbations to lipid metabolism could have important implications for management responses that aid in pre-hibernation fat storage.


1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane M. Winchell ◽  
Thomas H. Kunz

Daily and seasonal activity budgets of adult female eastern pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus subflavus, were quantified at a maternity colony in eastern Massachusetts. Ambient and roost temperatures were recorded. Activities of roosting bats were monitored using an infrared-sensitive video camera. Scan sampling was used to analyze video records taken at weekly intervals from mid-May to late July 1989. Analysis of day-roosting indicates that adult females spend an average of 77% of their time at rest, 16% alert, 7% grooming, and < 1% crawling. Bats were most active immediately following their morning return to the day-roost and just prior to their departure at dusk. Periodic bouts of activity throughout the day were usually associated with urination and (or) defecation, mother–pup interactions, and movements in response to changes in roost temperature. Females were significantly more active in mortise roosts than when roosting on the open ridgepole, probably because fluctuations in temperature in mortises were smaller. As the season progressed, the overall time that bats spent resting decreased from 86 to 70%, whereas time spent alert increased from 9 to 24%; weekly fluctuations in the incidence of grooming and crawling showed no consistent seasonal trends. Roost temperature, time of day, and date explained significant amounts of variation in both daily and seasonal activity budgets. Females rested significantly less and were more alert after young were born than before, although time spent grooming and crawling did not differ significantly between the pre- and post-partum periods. Our findings for P. subflavus generally corroborate activity budgets previously reported for the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus).


Author(s):  
Zoe Lucas ◽  
Andrew Hebda

Three lasiurine bat species, Lasionycteris noctivagans (Silver-hairedBat), Lasiurus cinereus (Hoary Bat), and Lasiurus borealis (Red Bat),have been recorded in inland, coastal, and offshore locations as of NovaScotia. Although these records occurred over a century, 70% are from themid-1990s or later, largely because of research in mainland Nova Scotia,and increased interest on Sable Island. The 65 records presented hereinclude 11, 25, and 29 for Silver-haired, Hoary, and Red bats, respectively,of which 31 are previously unpublished. Seventy-seven percent of recordsare from August through November, the autumn migration period forlasiurine bats. These observations suggest that most autumn occurrencesof these species in Nova Scotia are not extralimital, but are part of normalmigratory patterns in the province.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Pettit ◽  
Joy M. O'Keefe

Abstract White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging fungal disease suspected to have infected Indiana caves in the winter of 2010–2011. This disease places energetic strains on cave-hibernating bats by forcing them to wake and use energy reserves. It has caused &gt;5.5 million bat deaths across eastern North America, and may be the driving force for extinction of certain bat species. White-nose syndrome infection can be identified in hibernacula, but it may be difficult to determine whether bats in a particular area are affected if no known hibernacula exist. Thus, our aim was to use long-term monitoring data to examine changes in a summer population away from hibernacula that may be attributable to WNS effects during winter. We used capture data from a long-term bat-monitoring project in central Indiana with data from 10 repeatedly netted sites consistent across all reproductive periods. We modeled capture data by WNS exposure probability to assess changes in relative abundance of common species and reproductive classes as WNS exposure probability increases. We base exposure probability on a cokriging spatial model that interpolated WNS infection from hibernaculum survey data. The little brown bat Myotis lucifugus, the Indiana bat M. sodalis, and the tri-colored bat Perimyotis subflavus suffered 12.5–79.6% declines; whereas, the big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus, the eastern red bat Lasiurus borealis, and the evening bat Nycticeius humeralis showed 11.5–50.5% increases. We caught more nonreproductive adult females and postlactating females when WNS exposure probabilities were high, suggesting that WNS is influencing reproductive success of affected species. We conclude that, in Indiana, WNS is causing species-specific declines and may have caused the local extinction of M. lucifugus. Furthermore, WNS-affected species appear to be losing pups or forgoing pregnancy. Ongoing long-term monitoring studies, especially those focusing on reproductive success, are needed to measure the ultimate impacts of WNS.


2012 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard H. Thomas ◽  
Paul R. Moosman ◽  
Jacques Pierre Veilleux ◽  
Jason Holt

Diet and feeding relations of six species of bats at five locations in New Hampshire and Massachusetts were studied to improve understanding of foraging niche differentiation. Fecal samples were collected from 100 Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus), 154 Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifugus), 49 Northern Myotis (M. septentrionalis), 54 Eastern Small-footed Myotis (M. leibii), 9 Eastern Red Bats (Lasiurus borealis), and 1 Hoary Bat (L. cinereus) netted during non-hibernation periods from 2004 to 2008 at four locations in southern New Hampshire and one in north-central Massachusetts. Beetles (Order Coleoptera) were the major food of E. fuscus (mean percentage volume = 81.6%, 97% occurrence) followed by moths (Order Lepidoptera), with scarabaeid and carabid beetles the most abundant consumed families by volume and frequency. Moths were the most important item by volume and frequency preyed on by the remaining species (M. lucifugus, mean percentage volume 30.7%, 82% occurrence; M. septentrionalis, mean percentage volume 42.7%, 82% occurrence; M. leibii, mean percentage volume 49.4%, 81% occurrence; L. borealis, mean percentage volume 62.8%, 100% occurrence; L. cinereus, mean percentage volume 82%, 100% occurrence). Little Brown Myotis consumed the largest variety of prey (40); Northern Myotis consumed the highest volume of spiders (8.1%). Community similarity index values indicated diets of the three species of Myotis were more similar to each other (similarity = 0.71) than to those of non-Myotis. The diet of E. fuscus was more similar to that of the Myotis cluster (0.58) than to either species of Lasiurus. Results suggest that, despite faunal differences between the U.S. Northeast and other parts of North America, foraging relationships among guild members follows a similar pattern.


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