Effect of location and season on the arthropod prey of Nycteris grandis (Chiroptera: Nycteridae)

Abstract

Analysis of culled arthropod prey parts collected from beneath four feeding perches was used to assess prey taken by Nycteris grandis from November 1987 to May 1988. The perches were located along the Zambezi River in Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe.With the exception of an occasional solifugid, N. grandis ate mainly insects in addition to frogs and other small vertebrates. Three species of katydids and many species of moths were the most common prey. While bats using one feeding perch fed heavily on two species of cicadas at times, those at the other perches rarely did. There also were differences in the incidences of antlions, mantids and beetles in the diets of bats using different perches. Extensive samples from two feeding roosts about 2 km apart showed significant differences in prey composition. Smaller samples from two sites closer to one another showed similar patterns of the incidence of different prey.

Keywords: Nycteris grandis, bat, prey, Zimbabwe, Mana Pools National Park, arthropod