title: Foraging activity of the free-tailed bat Molossus molossus (Chiroptera; Molossidae) in southeastern Brazil.
abstract: Sunset and sunrise regulate the activities of most studied bat species. To verify patterns of foraging activity, 29 bat sampling nights were carried out over a dam in Rio de Janeiro city, which resulted in 363 hours with 730 captures, representing 13 species of insectivorous bats. Molossus molossus constituted the bulk of the captures (79.9%) and was present in 82.8% of the sampling nights. This bat species exhibited crepuscular and nocturnal activity (from -6 minutes to 900 minutes after the time of sunset). A bimodal activity pattern was observed, and two non-overlapping capture peaks. The first peak lasted from 6 minutes before sunset to 420 minutes after sunset. The second peak began at 564 minutes after sunset and ended just after sunrise. The first capture peak was observed in 75.9% of the nights, and the second peak in 62.1% of the nights. The time of the first capture exhibited a positive linear relationship with sunset and the time of the last capture, a positive linear relationship with sunrise. The existence of a relationship between night length and the difference between first and last captures of each night shows that M. molossus has longer activity the longer the night, showing a seasonal variation in the activity period.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil. cesberard@superig.com.br
authors.forename: C E L
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Esbérard
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Bergallo
mesh_terms: D000204:Activity Cycles / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons