Do bigger bats need more time to forage?
We test the hypothesis is that bats using the same area and at the same time would be using similar preys, but they would have different foraging times due to specific differences in biomass. A total of 730 captures was analyzed 13 species of Vespertilionidae and Molossidae bats netted over a small dam in southeastern Brazil from 1993 and 1999. The relationship between the average time of captures and the biomass of the species of Vespertilinidae and Molossidae most frequent (captures > 4) was positive and significant (r = 0.83, p = 0.022, N = 7). Two lines are discussed to answer the longer foraging time for bigger bats: 1) larger insectivorous bats don't consume proportionally larger preys and 2) larger insects are less available.
Esbérard
C E L
CE
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil, 23851-970. cesberard@superig.com.br
Bergallo
H G
HG
D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007313:Insecta; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors