Notes on echolocation calls, food and roosting behaviour of the Old World sucker-footed bat Myzopoda aurita (Chiroptera, Myzopodidae)

In 1992 one individual of the rare species Myzopoda aurita was captured near Fort Dauphin in southeastern Madagascar. Pellet analysis revealed that the animal had fed on Microlepidoptera before capture. The bat was observed in a flight cage. It clinged head upright to the lower leaf surface of a traveller’s palm Ravenala madagascariensis, using its stiff tail as a prop. While readily flying in the cage, the specimen emitted FM echolocation calls which were recorded and analysed for the first time in this species: They are characterized by two to four distinct pulse elements of increased amplitude. The second of maximal four harmonics was always the strongest component. During the remarkably long call of up to 23 ms, the frequency of the second harmonic decreased from 42 to 24 kHz with a shallow sweep at the beginning and a steep sweep at its end. Most calls were emitted in pairs. Possible functions of this call structure are discussed.