Potential use of chemical cues for colony-mate recognition in the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus.
Bats should benefit from recognition of their roost-mates when colonies form stable social units that persist over time. We used Y-maze experiments and gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) to evaluate whether female big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) use chemical cues to distinguish among conspecifics. In dual-choice Y-maze experiments, females chose the scent of another female from their own roost over a conspecific female from a different roost in a majority of trials. Analysis of total body odors using GC-O suggests that individuals from a given colony may share a more common odor signature with roost-mates than with non-roost-mate conspecifics. Using four principle components derived from 15 odor variables, discriminant function analysis correctly assigned most individuals to the correct colony.
Bloss
Johanna
J
Department of Biology, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Acree
Terry E
TE
Bloss
Janelle M
JM
Hood
Wendy R
WR
Kunz
Thomas H
TH
D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009656:North America; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects