| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1985 |
| Authors: | R. M. R. Barclay |
| Journal: | Biotropica |
| Volume: | 17 |
| Pagination: | 65-70 |
| Date Published: | 1985a |
| Keywords: | activity patterns, Beutespektrum, Chiroptera, day roosts, diet, ecology, feeding habits, Fledermäuse, foraging, habitat preferences, Insecta, insectivory, Mammalia, Nahrung, Nahrungsspektrum, Nahrungswahl, prey selection, radio-tracking, roosting behaviour, Scotophilus leucogaster, seasonality, Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, Southern Africa, telemetry, Vespertilionidae, Zimbabwe |
| Abstract: | The authors studied the foraging behavior of Scotophilus leucogaster in Zimbabwe, Africa, during January and February (normally the wet season) 1982, using mist nets, fecal analysis, light tags and radiotelemetry. Both the diet and foraging behavior of this species appear to be variable. Individuals foraged primarily over floodplains for an average of less than one hour at dusk and spent the rest of the night in small tree-cavity roosts. Adults averaged shorter feeding periods and remained closer to the roost area than did subadults. Hemipterans and coleopterans were the primary prey items although a number of other insect orders were eaten to varying degrees by different individuals. The diet varied between adults and subadults and from night to night. It was also more varied than that previously reported for this species during the wet season, a fact potentially due to abnormally dry conditions present during 1981 and 1982. |