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1 November 2000 DIET AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR OF THE GOLDEN-TIPPED BAT, KERIVOULA PAPUENSIS: A SPIDER SPECIALIST?
Martin Schulz
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Abstract

I evaluated the diet of the golden-tipped bat, Kerivoula papuensis (Vespertilionidae), at 3 sites in eastern Australia. Spiders (Araneida) dominated (>95%) feces collected from captured individuals or from beneath roosts at all sites. Araneida also occurred in 63% of 27 captured individuals; fragments of prey were located between teeth or adhering to facial fur at 1 site. A small percentage of fragments were identified to family, and all belonged to the web builders, Araneidae or Tetragnathidae. Marked K. papuensis individuals were observed only in cluttered rain forest, with all individuals flying among vegetation at an average height of about 3.4 m (range, 1–10 m). No direct gleaning attempts were observed, although hovering may have represented a strategy to capture Araneida suspended in webs. These results indicate that K. papuensis is a spider specialist, although smaller quantities of other types of prey were taken, including Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, demonstrating dietary flexibility.

Martin Schulz "DIET AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR OF THE GOLDEN-TIPPED BAT, KERIVOULA PAPUENSIS: A SPIDER SPECIALIST?," Journal of Mammalogy 81(4), 948-957, (1 November 2000). https://doi.org/10.1644/1545-1542(2000)081<0948:DAFBOT>2.0.CO;2
Received: 19 May 1999; Accepted: 20 March 2000; Published: 1 November 2000
KEYWORDS
Araneida
Australia
diet
foraging behavior
golden-tipped bat
Kerivoula papuensis
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