Seasonal distribution of the long‐nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) in North America: does a generalized migration pattern really exist?

Abstract

Summary AimThis paper examines the migration of the tropical nectarivorous bat Leptonycteris curasoae considered as a latitudinal migrant that breeds in south‐west United States and northern Mexico in spring and migrates southward during fall. We tested the hypothesis that the latitudinal migration occurs only locally given by the local availability of bat resources, leading to migratory movements in zones with seasonal scarcity of resources and to resident bat populations where resources are available throughout the year. LocalizationWe analysed the presence of L. curasoae along its distribution range in North America (between 14°N and 33°N). Study cases were also conducted in three Mexican localities: the Tehuacán Valley (17°48′–18°58′N and 96°48′–97°43′W), Sonoran Desert (28°41′N and 110°15′W), and the coast of Jalisco (19°32′N and 105°07′W). MethodsGeographic evidence for latitudinal migration of L. curasoae was analysed using 94‐year capture records housed in twenty‐two collections of North America. Records were analysed using a Geographical Information System (GIS), in which floral resources and capture records were integrated. Monthly captures in the Tehuacán Valley were conducted during three years and bats abundance and reproductive status were correlated with the phenology of bat resources. Bat captures were also conducted during two consecutive years in an extratropical desert during winter and spring, and during one spring in the coast of Jalisco. ResultsThe latitudinal migration of L. curasoae in North America only occurs at latitudes near 30°N, whereas bats may be residents at latitudes lower than 21°N. Captures were associated always to the availability of floral resources in both geographical and local scales. Main conclusionsThe existence of resident populations in the tropics with two reproductive events support the hypothesis that migration only occurs in the northern distribution limit of this nectar‐feeding bat.

Timing and rate of speciation inAgave(Agavaceae)

“…The two species of Leptonycteris, L. curasoae and L. nivalis, feed primarily on Agave spp. and columnar cacti (37,38). Phyllostomid New World bats are estimated to have evolved Յ15 Mya (39), and bats of the genera Glossophaga and Leptonyceteris diverged from a common ancestor Ϸ2.4 Mya, whereas the two Leptonycteris species diverged Ϸ1.0 Mya (40).…”

Pollination biology of <em>Agave horrida</em> (Agavaceae) in the Chichinautzin mountain range, in Central Mexico”

“…During the more than two months of its flowering period, A. horrida produces approximately 3.4 liters of nectar per night per ha, enough to maintain approximately 270 nectarivorous bats (see values of energetic flow proposed by Howell, 1979). Agave species are well known for their capacity to offer enough resources to maintain large POLLINATION BIOLOGY OF AGAVE HORRIDA quantities of pollinators; in central Mexico, their sequential flowering with other chiropterophilous species (agaves and columnar cacti) is likely to be responsible for the presence of resident nectarivorous bats (Rojas-Martínez et al 1999, Morales et al 2007). It has also been suggested that the flowering of nine agave species (including A. horrida) forms a corridor that maintains the migration of Leptonycteris nivalis from central Mexico to the South of the U.S. (Gómez-Ruiz & Lacher 2017).…”

Relationship Between the Amount of Subcutaneous Fat, Testicular Morphometry, Epididymis and Some Sperm Parameters in Leptonycteris yerbabuenae Bat Before, During and After Mating

“…In this area the species is composed of two groups or population with different breeding and behavioral period [1][2]. Populations distribution above parallel 21°N behave as a latitudinal migrant and births occur during the spring [1,3,4], while populations below that parallel are local residents or regional migrant and births occurs at autumn [12,5].…”