Behavioral evidence for eavesdropping on prey song in two Palearctic sibling bat species |
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Authors: | Patricia L Jones Rachel A Page Manfred Hartbauer and Bj?rn M Siemers |
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Institution: | (1) Sensory Ecology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse 11, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany;(2) Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C0930, Austin, TX, USA;(3) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, MRC 0580-06, Apartado, 0843-03092, Panama City, Republic of Panama;(4) Department of Zoology, Karl-Franzens Universit?t, Universit?tsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria; |
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Abstract: | Eavesdropping on prey communication signals has never before been reported for a Palearctic bat species. In this study, we
investigated whether lesser and greater mouse-eared bats, Myotis blythii oxygnathus and Myotis myotis, find tettigoniid bushcrickets (Tettigoniidae) by eavesdropping on their mate-attraction song. Tettigoniids are known to
be the most important prey item for M. blythii oxygnathus, while carabid beetles and other epigaeic arthropods are the most important prey for its sibling species, M. myotis, in many places in Europe. M. myotis locates walking beetles by listening for their rustling sounds. We compared these two species’ response to four acoustic
prey cues: calling song of two tettigoniid species, the rustling sound made by walking carabid beetles, and a control tone.
Individuals of both bat species attacked the speaker playing tettigoniid song, which clearly indicates that both species eavesdrop
on prey-generated advertisement signals. There were, however, species differences in response. M. blythii oxygnathus exhibited stronger predatory responses to the calling song of two species of tettigoniid than to the beetle rustling sound
or the control. M. myotis, in contrast, exhibited stronger predatory responses to the beetle rustling and to one tettigoniid species but not the other
tettigoniid or the control. Our study (1) for the first time demonstrates eavesdropping on prey communication signals for
Palearctic bats and (2) gives preliminary evidence for sensory niche partitioning between these two sympatric sibling bat
species. |
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