What's for dinner? documenting insect prey diversity through bat fecal analysis
2019
Gustilo, W.O. | Lit, I.L., Jr | De Guai, A.P.O.
Insect diversity in front of bat-inhabited caves in Putting Bato, Polillo Island [Philippines] was recorded and compared to the contents of fecal pellets from insectivorous bats inhabiting those caves. UV-light trap was used to sample the insects along a 2-km transect with three plots. Altogether, five insect orders were noticeably abundant Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera (the most abundant). Fecal pellets from 45 individuals belonging to nine species under three families of insectivorous bats were collected. Distribution of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera showed significant differences across bat species (rho 0.05). The diversity of prey consumed reflected the diversity of insects as food sources for the bats. However, data on prey consumption and prey availability showed no evidence of correlation (rho 0.05). This suggests that bats could prey on insects which are hard to detect morphologically in fecal samples due to their relative digestibility. Molecular techniques are recommended for more accurate data on insect prey diversity through fecal analysis.
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