Foods of the Pallid Bat, Antrozous pallidus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), in the Chihuahuan Desert of Western Texas

Lenhart, Paul A.; Mata‐Silva, Vicente; Johnson, Jerry D.

doi:10.1894/clg-21.1

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…crickets, beetles, scorpions, centipedes;O'Shea & Vaughan 1977), but its' diet and foraging habits are highly variable throughout its range (Frick, Shipley, Kelly, Heady, & Kay, 2014;Herrera, Fleming, & Findley, 1993;Johnston & Fenton, 2001). In addition to arthropods, Pallid bats have been documented to consume small vertebrates (Lenhart, Mata-silva, & Johnson, 1894;O'Shea & Vaughan, 1977) and are unique among vespertillionids by being the only species known to exhibit facultative nectarivory and frugivory (Aliperti, Kelt, Heady, & Frick, 2017;Frick, Heady, & Hayes, 2009;Frick, Price, Heady, & Kay, 2013;Howell, 1980). The exploitation of cardon cacti (Pachycereus pringlei) has been observed exclusively in populations from Baja California, Mexico; thus, it remains unclear whether or not this foraging strategy is widespread across areas where the Pallid bat co-occurs with other columnar cacti.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary productivity explains size variation across the Pallid bat's western geographic range

2018

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Body size is associated with many aspects of the life history, ecology and physiology of animals. Within a species, body size can vary substantially across space and time, and the mechanisms generating these patterns have been the focus of evolutionary and ecology research. Bergmann’s rule predicts a negative relationship between body size and temperature across the geographic range of endothermic animals; larger animals have a lower surface to volume ratio, which would allow for greater heat conservation. Despite the broad support for this pattern, its underlying mechanisms are heavily debated. Numerous alternative explanations have been proposed to explain why larger animals are found in colder climates and vice versa, including heat dissipation, environmental seasonality and resource availability. We used the Pallid bat, Antrozous pallidus, as a model to evaluate Bergmannian size patterns and the relative support for major explanatory hypotheses of geographic body size variation. We tested the hypothesis that geographic size variation is predicted by productivity, as opposed to seasonality, heat conservation or dissipation, or some combination of these processes. Additionally, we investigated the potential ecomorphological consequences of size variation in Pallid bats by determining if skull shape (an indicator of bite performance) varies with size. Whereas we did find that Pallid bat populations in northern latitudes are composed of larger individuals, our results suggest that net primary productivity and, to a lesser extent heat conservation, best explain size variation throughout the western range of this species. We also found that skull shape in Pallid bats changes in tandem with skull size, with larger bats having cranial traits associated with greater bite force production. The results of our study indicate that variation in resource availability may be a key factor underlying spatial patterns in size, morphology and, possibly, feeding performance within wide‐ranging bat species. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13092/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary productivity explains size variation across the Pallid bat's western geographic range

2018

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“…However, pallid bats are opportunistic and flexible, occasionally taking fruit from organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) and cardón (Pachycereus pringlei) in the Southwest, and at least incidentally, they also take pollen and nectar from flowering columnar cacti (Howell, 1980;Herrera et al, 1993;Simmons & Wetterer, 2002;Frick et al, 2009Frick et al, , 2013Frick et al, , 2014Aliperti et al, 2017) and probably agaves (Ammerman et al, 2012). Most often, pallid bats prey upon relatively large, flightless arthropods; occasionally they also eat small vertebrates (Engler, 1943;Orr, 1954;O'Shea & Vaughan, 1977;Bell, 1982;Lenhart et al, 2010;Rambaldini & Brigham, 2011). Some of these prey items are taken during a brief touchdown or are gleaned from foliage during flight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The bats drop undesired parts of the arthropods such as wings, elytra, and legs. The discarded items provide qualitative data on pallid bat diets (e.g., Orr, 1954;Ross, 1961Ross, , 1967O'Shea & Vaughan, 1977;Bell, 1982;Lenhart et al, 2010), although Johnston & Fenton (2001) found that the insects represented in the culled parts were biased toward the hardest and largest prey species eaten relative to species represented in fecal pellets. In this study, we investigated food habits of pallid bats in southeastern Arizona and made observations on their interactions with the predominant insect in their local diet, the mesquite bug Thasus neocalifornicus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #2 of "Mesquite bugs, other insects, and a bat in the diet of pallid bats in southeastern Arizona (v0.1)"

2018

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The pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) is a species of western North America, inhabiting ecoregions ranging from desert to oak and pine forest. They are primarily insectivorous predators on large arthropods that occasionally take small vertebrate prey, and are at least seasonally omnivorous in certain parts of their geographic range where they take nectar from cactus flowers and eat cactus fruit pulp and seeds. Until recently, mesquite bugs were primarily tropical-subtropical inhabitants of Mexico and Central America but have since occupied the southwestern United States where mesquite trees occur. Using a noninvasive method, we investigated the bats' diet at the Cienega Creek Natural Preserve, Arizona, by collecting food parts discarded beneath three night roosts in soil-piping cavities in a mesquite bosque. We also made phenological and behavioral observations of mesquite bugs, Thasus neocalifornicus, and their interactions with the mesquite trees. We determined that the bats discarded inedible parts of 36 species in 8 orders of mainly largebodied and nocturnal insects below the night-roosts. In addition, one partial bat wing represents probable predation upon a phyllostomid bat, Choeronycteris mexicana. About 17 of the insect taxa are newly reported as prey for pallid bats, as is the bat C. mexicana. The majority of culled insect parts (88%) were from adult mesquite bugs. Mesquite bug nymphs did not appear in the culled insect parts. After breeding in late summer, when nighttime low temperatures dropped below 21°C, the adult bugs became immobile on the periphery of trees where they probably make easy prey for opportunistic foliage-gleaning pallid bats. Proximity of night-roosts to mesquite bug habitat probably also enhances the bats' exploitation of these insects in this location.

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“…However, pallid bats are opportunistic and flexible, occasionally taking fruit from organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) and cardón (Pachycereus pringlei) in the Southwest, and at least incidentally, they also take pollen and nectar from flowering columnar cacti (Howell, 1980;Herrera et al, 1993;Simmons & Wetterer, 2002;Frick et al, 2013;Aliperti et al, 2017) and probably agaves (Ammerman et al, 2012). Most often, pallid bats prey upon relatively large, flightless arthropods; occasionally they also eat small vertebrates (Engler, 1943;Orr, 1954;O'Shea & Vaughan, 1977;Bell, 1982;Lenhart et al, 2010;Rambaldini & Brigham, 2011). Some of these prey items are taken during a brief touchdown or are gleaned from foliage during flight.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The bats drop undesired parts of the insects and other arthropods such as wings, elytra, and legs. The discarded items provide qualitative data on pallid bat diets (e.g., Orr, 1954;Ross, 1961Ross, , 1967O'Shea & Vaughan, 1977;Bell, 1982;Lenhart et al, 2010), although Johnston & Fenton (2001) found that the insects represented in the culled parts were biased toward the hardest and largest prey species eaten relative to species represented in fecal pellets.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Supplemental Information 4: Raw Data Listing Field Observations and Insect Identifications

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Foods of the Pallid Bat, Antrozous pallidus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), in the Chihuahuan Desert of Western Texas

Cited by 17 publications

References 14 publications

Primary productivity explains size variation across the Pallid bat's western geographic range

Primary productivity explains size variation across the Pallid bat's western geographic range

Peer Review #2 of "Mesquite bugs, other insects, and a bat in the diet of pallid bats in southeastern Arizona (v0.1)"

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