Dietary analysis of the Indian Flying Fox Pteropus giganteus (Brunnich, 1782) (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) in Myanmar through the analysis of faecal and chewed remnants

Moe Moe Aung,Than Than Htay

doi:10.11609/jott.4972.11.8.13977-13983

Moe Moe Aung, Than Than Htay

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4972.11.8.13977-13983

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Abstract

The diet of Indian Flying Fox Pteropus giganteus in southern Myanmar was analyzed from June 2017 to April 2018. Food resources were identified by collecting faeces, food remnants, and rejecta pellets beneath day roosts. Pteropus giganteus consumed fruits, flowers, and leaves of 14 species of plants. Six species of fruits were found in the faeces below the day roosts, 13 species of fruits and two species of leaves in the rejecta, and seven species of fruits and one species of leaf at the day roost. These observations indicate that P. giganteus is a phytophagous bat with rapid intestinal passage.

Highlights

MATERIALS AND METHODSThe Old World bat family Pteropodidae is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of Australasia, Africa, and Oceania (Marshall 1983; Mickleburgh et al 1992)
Food resources Pteropus giganteus was found to feed on 10 species of fruits, flowers and fruits of a single species, and both fruits and leaves of three species (Table 1)
Of the 14 species of plants eaten by Pteropus giganteus, four species, namely Ficus racemosa, F. virens, Terminalia catappa, and Musa sapientum, were available to bats throughout the year; other plant species that had a long fruiting season were Psidium guajava, Mangifera indica, and Ziziphus jujuba

Summary

Introduction

The Old World bat family Pteropodidae is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of Australasia, Africa, and Oceania (Marshall 1983; Mickleburgh et al 1992). It comprises 196 species (Simmons 2005) that feed primarily on fruits, flowers (nectar, pollen, petals, and bracts), and leaves of at least 188 plant genera from 64 families (Lobova et al 2009; Fleming & Kress 2011; Aziz et al 2015). Pteropodid bats, damage a wide range of fruit crops in some countries, leading to persecution In some of these countries, bats are not legally protected. Legal protection is either not implemented or over-ridden by legislation allowing the killing of bats (Aziz et al 2015)

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