Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Keywords
Diet; Food habits; Hoary bat
Abstract
Information on diets is fundamental to ecological studies. Prey use by the solitary, tree-roosting hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) in agricultural landscapes is not known. We examined the stomach contents and fecal material from carcasses of hoary bats collected during a mortality study at wind turbine sites in southwestern Minnesota. We compared diet of hoary bats to availability of prey to determine whether bats were opportunistic or selective. Food of the hoary bats primarily consisted of lepidopterans (moths; 49-50 %) and coleopterans (beetles; 28-40 %). The abundance of insects in the diet of hoary bats was not proportional to the estimated availability of prey. Hoary bats selected large, soft-bodied insects (e.g., lepidopterans and neuropterans) and avoided small or hard-bodied insects (e.g., coleopterans, dipterans, and hemipterans). We suggest that hoary bats do not select prey based on availability, but rather, select prey that are large and soft-bodied.
First Page
1
Last Page
6
Recommended Citation
Perlik, M. K.,
McMillan, B. R.,
&
Krenz, J. D.
(2012).
Food Habits of the Hoary Bat in an Agricultural Landscape.
Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science, Vol. 75 No.2, 1-6.
Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/jmas/vol75/iss2/1
Primo Type
Article