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1 January 2006 Consumption of Caterpillars by Bats During an Outbreak of Western Spruce Budworm
JOANNA M. WILSON, ROBERT M. R. BARCLAY
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Abstract

We investigated the diets of insectivorous bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in forests with high densities of western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis, Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in southern interior British Columbia, Canada. Caterpillars as potential prey were more common and widespread than previously reported. Caterpillar consumption by bats was more frequent where C. occidentalis larvae were more abundant, suggesting that the caterpillars being eaten were C. occidentalis. The frequency of caterpillar consumption was similar for Myotis evotis, which gleans prey from vegetation, and for other bat species that forage primarily by aerial-hawking. We suggest that caterpillars hanging by silk threads were captured by bats that foraged aerially.

JOANNA M. WILSON and ROBERT M. R. BARCLAY "Consumption of Caterpillars by Bats During an Outbreak of Western Spruce Budworm," The American Midland Naturalist 155(1), 244-249, (1 January 2006). https://doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031(2006)155[0244:COCBBD]2.0.CO;2
Accepted: 1 June 2005; Published: 1 January 2006
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