Monday, April 30, 2018

[Mammalogy • 2018] Into the Light: Atypical Diurnal Foraging Activity of Blyth’s Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus lepidus (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) on Tioman Island, Malaysia


Rhinolophus lepidus Blyth, 1844

in Chua & Aziz, 2018

 Abstract  
Diurnal flight and foraging activity in insectivorous bats are atypical behaviours that have been recorded from islands with few avian predators and from locations with extended daylight hours. We present the first known observations of diurnal activity of Rhinolophus lepidus in forests on Tioman Island, Malaysia, recorded using visual surveys and acoustic monitoring. The bats were flying during the day and at night, and feeding buzzes detected suggest that they were actively foraging during the day. This appears to be a regular phenomenon on Tioman Island. The absence of resident diurnal avian predators that hunt below the forest canopy may account for the diurnal activity of R. lepidus in forests there.

Keywords: acoustic monitoring; daylight; foraging behaviour; tropical forest




Figure 2: In situ image and characteristic features of the day-flying bats of Tioman Island, Malaysia.
(A) Day-flying insectivorous bat flying a low circuit in Paya, Tioman Island, Malaysia. (B and C) Frontal and lateral views of diurnal Rhinolophus lepidus displaying characteristic features of the species, i.e. pointed lancelet with concave sides, triangular connecting process and hair with light tips.


Marcus A.H. Chua and Sheema Abdul Aziz. 2018. Into the Light: Atypical Diurnal Foraging Activity of Blyth’s Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus lepidus (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) on Tioman Island, Malaysia. Mammalia. DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2017-0128


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