Diet of Tonatia bidens (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) in an Atlantic Forest area, southeastern Brazil: first evidence for frugivory

Abstract

The greater round-eared bat Tonatia bidens has a varied diet, consuming mostly insects, although it also feeds on small terrestrial vertebrates, such as rodents and birds. In 2008–2009, we expanded the knowledge of this species’ feeding ecology by analyzing the diet of a T. bidens population in an Atlantic Forest fragment in southeastern Brazil. Food remains found in day shelters and feeding roosts included insects, birds, mammals and fruits. Insects, Lepidoptera, Blattodea, Coleoptera and Orthoptera, were the main component of the diet. There was a preferential consumption of the soft parts of insects and vertebrates, possibly because these parts are more easily digested and are the most nutritious. This first evidence of fruit consumption is also discussed. This analysis indicates that T. bidens has a more general diet than previously reported.