Experience in Researching of Feeding Selectivity of Vespertilio murinus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)
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Experience in Researching of Feeding Selectivity of Vespertilio murinus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) E. M. Pervushinaa, * and O. R. Gizullinaa aInstitute
of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg, 620144 Russia *e-mail: [email protected] Received October 10, 2019; revised December 9, 2019; accepted December 18, 2019
Keywords: Vespertilio murinus, excrement analysis, light trap, Middle Trans-Urals DOI: 10.1134/S1067413620050094
According to the theory of optimal foraging, to optimize the cost–benefit ratio of individuals in a population, certain strategies of food-producing behavior are formed and, thus, the response of the population to changes in environmental conditions is manifested [1]. One of the stages of food-producing behavior is the predator’s choice of prey. As is known, this choice is determined by a number of factors, including the availability of suitable food objects in the environment [2]. Conducting such studies is of interest. At the same time, the influence of unstable environmental conditions and various behavioral patterns of the animals themselves complicate the study of food selectivity in nature and is a technically difficult task that can be performed on small samples. Previously, the selectivity of feeding in bats was not investigated in Russia. Russian research in the field of trophic biology of bats usually comes down to a review of the structure of the diet and a comparative analysis of the diets of different species [3, 4, etc.]. Abroad, they are more relevant and represent an analysis of the diet of species along with an assessment of feed resources [5–7 and others]. The purpose of our work is to study the feeding selectivity of bats using the example of the parti-colored bat Vespertilio murinus (Linnaeus, 1758), by comparing the feeding spectrum of the species and the abundance of its potential victims—insects in the environment. It was interesting to find out whether animals select individual groups of insects from the mass of arthropods active at night or eat numerous and available feeds. Studies were carried out in the village of Skorodumskoye, Irbitsky district, Sverdlovsk region (57.34° N, 62.43° E), near the base of the Scientific and Practical Center for Biodiversity. The territory is located in the subzone of the southern taiga of the low Middle TransUrals [8]. The object of study is a common migratory species in the Middle Trans-Urals, an open-space hunter that uses feed stations in various biotopes.
Material was taken during the reproductive activity of bats in mid-July. It was previously shown [8] that the taxonomic diversity and abundance of insects, potential bat prey, positively correlates with the environmental temperature. To avoid the influence of a large number of factors, the material was taken after a relatively short time interval at different weather dates—July 11 and 16, 2012 (Table 1). Animals were caught near the shelter at the end of night feeding (from 3:00 to 5:00 h). Excrements were take
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