An Aerial-Hawking Bat Uses Stealth Echolocation to Counter Moth Hearing

Abstract

(Current Biology 20, 1568–1572; September 14, 2010) In the Supplemental Information originally published online with this paper, Figure S1, which is a detailed version of Figures 3B and 3C in the main text, was calculated for bat hearing thresholds of 0 and 10 dB SPL instead of 0 and 20 dB SPL. This means that in panels B, D, F, and H of Figure S1, the continuous lines that show the maximum detection distance for moths by bats are at slightly larger distances than they would be for 20 dB SPL hearing threshold. This display error does not change any of the results or conclusions, and Figure S1 has now been corrected online. The authors regret this error. An Aerial-Hawking Bat Uses Stealth Echolocation to Counter Moth HearingGoerlitz et al.Current BiologyAugust 19, 2010In BriefEars evolved in many nocturnal insects, including some moths, to detect bat echolocation calls and evade capture [1, 2]. Although there is evidence that some bats emit echolocation calls that are inconspicuous to eared moths, it is difficult to determine whether this was an adaptation to moth hearing or originally evolved for a different purpose [2, 3]. Aerial-hawking bats generally emit high-amplitude echolocation calls to maximize detection range [4, 5]. Here we present the first example of an echolocation counterstrategy to overcome prey hearing at the cost of reduced detection distance. Full-Text PDF Open Archive