| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1985 |
| Authors: | M. B. Fenton |
| Journal: | Transvaal Museum Bulletin |
| Volume: | 21 |
| Pagination: | 5-16 |
| Date Published: | 1985b |
| Keywords: | [Chaerephon] Tadarida ansorgei, [Chaerephon] Tadarida chapini, [Chaerephon] Tadarida nigeriae, [Neoromicia] Eptesicus spp. (capensis, [Nycticeinops schlieffenii] Nycticeius schlieffeni, Africa, Australia, body mass, Chiroptera, Cloeotis percivali, competition, diet, echolocation, Emballonuridae, Epomophorus crypturus, Epomophorus gambianus, Epomophorus wahlbergi, food, foraging strategies, Glauconycteris variegata, Hipposideridae, Hipposideros caffer, Hipposideros commersoni [vittatus], Hipposideros ruber, Insecta, Kerivoula argentata, kuhlii, Laephotis angolensis (botswanae?), Miniopteridae, Miniopterus spp., Molossidae, Myotis welwitschii, Nycteridae, Nycteris thebaica, Nycteris woodi, Otomops martiensseni, Pipistrellus rueppellii, Pipistrellus spp. (nanus, Pteropodidae, resource partitioning, Rhinolophidae, Rhinolophus clivosus, Rhinolophus denti, Rhinolophus fumigatus, Rhinolophus hildebrandtii, Rhinolophus landeri, Rhinolophus simulator, Rousettus aegyptiacus, rusticus), Scotophilus leucogaster, Scotophilus nigrita [dinganii], Tadarida fulminans, Taphozous mauritianus, Vespertilionidae, Zimbabwe, zuluensis) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the results of work on temperate and tropical Microchiroptera to explore the relevance of ideas about interspecific competition to faunas of insectivorous bats. The bat fauna of the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area in Zimbabwe is the focus of much of the work reviewed here. The value of echolocation as a window on the behaviour and foraging ecology of Microchiroptera is considered, and some apparatus and approaches for exploiting this avenue of investigation are reviewed. A tentative association between different foraging strategies and the basic design of echolocation calls is proposed. Some insectivorous bats pursue flying prey, hunting in continuous flight or from perches; others are gleaners, taking prey from surfaces. Bats that hunt flying prey may operate at long or short range, Another group of bats, including rhinolophids, hipposiderids, and the mormoopid Pteronotus parnellii use echolocation to detect fluttering targets. In spite of many assertions to the contrary, evidence for insectivorous bats partitioning resources (food or roosts) remains ambiguous, overwhelmed by variation in prey selected and lack of data. African bats are ideal subjects for further studies of the dynamics of interactions between sympatric species, including the possible effect of limiting (?) resources. |