title: Social calls predict foraging success in big brown bats.
abstract: Animals foraging in the dark are engaged simultaneously in prey pursuit, collision avoidance, and interactions with conspecifics, making efficient nonvisual communication essential. A variety of birds and mammals emit food-associated calls that inform, attract, or repel conspecifics (e.g.,). Big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) are insectivorous aerial hawkers that may forage near conspecifics and are known to emit social calls (e.g.,). Calls recorded in a foraging setting might attract (e.g.,) or repel conspecifics and could denote territoriality or food claiming. Here, we provide evidence that the "frequency-modulated bout" (FMB), a social call emitted only by male bats (exclusively in a foraging context), is used to claim food and is individually distinct. Bats were studied individually and in pairs in a flight room equipped with synchronized high-speed stereo video and audio recording equipment while sex and experience with a foraging task were experimentally manipulated. Male bats emitting the FMB showed greater success in capturing prey. Following FMB emission, interbat distance, diverging flight, and the other bat's distance to the prey each increased. These findings highlight the importance and utility of vocal communication for a nocturnal animal mediating interactions with conspecifics in a fast-paced foraging setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: myotis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Genevieve Spanjer
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xian
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Gerald S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Moss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005426:Flight, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D014741:Video Recording; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*