A difference between sexes: temporal variation in the diet of Carollia perspicillata (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) at the Macaregua cave, Santander (Colombia)

A Alviz,J Pérez-Torres

doi:10.32800/abc.2020.43.0027

A Alviz, J Pérez-Torres

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2020.43.0027

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Abstract

Organisms adjust their foraging strategies to optimize the energetic costs during foraging with respect to benefits gained. These strategies are usually different in males and females due to their specific requirements during reproduction. Knowing the temporal dietary composition and variation may help us understand how intrinsic factors can influence diet during the breeding season. Seba’s short–tailed fruit bat (Carollia perspicillata) plays an important role in seed dispersal throughout the Neotropics. Seasonal dietary changes related to resource availability have been documented but dietary differences between males and females have not been analyzed. We tested the hypothesis that dietary breadth increases and varies between males and females of Carollia perspicillata during the breeding season. We collected 295 fecal samples (from 236 males and 182 females) between June 2012 and April 2013 at the Macaregua cave (Santander, Colombia). Sex, diet and overlap were recorded. Time series analysis of dietary variation were estimated and related to food (fruits and flowers) availability. Males were found to include 18 seed morphospecies within their diet, while females included 16 seed morphospecies. Ficus, Vismia and Acacia were the most commonly consumed plant genera within the diet of both males and females. The time series analysis throughout the year indicated that males had greater dietary diversity than females. Dietary richness for males peaked multiple times, while dietary richness for females peaked only once during the transition period between pregnancy and lactation. We recorded significant sex differences in the value of importance of plants in the diet, evenness, and dominance of plant species consumed, as well as differential consumption over the seasons. Knowing the variations in the diet allows us to address the differences between the foraging strategies that females and males use in response to energy demands, movement patterns and habitat use. This is essential to understand all those processes that organisms must carry out for their survival and maintenance.

Highlights

Carollia perspicillata is the most abundant and widely distributed member of the genus Carollia (Fleming, 1988) and it is found in most evergreen forests in the neotropics (Cloutier and Thomas, 1992)
We evaluated whether the richness of the diet was greater during the breeding season, both for females and for males, and whether the amplitude of the diet of females was greater than that of the males, regardless of the season
The diet of Carollia perspicillata was composed of 26 morphotypes, the most representative items being species of the genus Ficus, Vismia, Acacia and Myrcia

Summary

Introduction

Carollia perspicillata is the most abundant and widely distributed member of the genus Carollia (Fleming, 1988) and it is found in most evergreen forests in the neotropics (Cloutier and Thomas, 1992). Its diet is composed of a variety of fruits, flowers and insects. It is one of the main seed dispersers, helping to maintain plant heterogeneity, principally through the dispersion of pioneer plant species such as Piper and Cecropia (Barboza–Márquez and Aguirre, 2010; Kunz et al, 2011). During the dry season, when fruit production is low, its diet is mainly composed of nectar and pollen (Charles–Dominique, 1991; Cloutier and Thomas, 1992). Diet analyses have shown that C. perspicillata consumes insects, possibly as a dietary supplement due to the low protein content of fruits (Mello et al, 2004a)

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