Nectarivory by Endemic Malagasy Fruit Bats During the Dry Season1

Abstract

ABSTRACTMadagascar has a distinctive fruit bat community consisting ofPteropus rufus,Eidolon dupreanum, andRousettus madagascariensis. In this study, we observed fruit bat visits to flowering baobabs (Adansonia suarezensisandAdansonia grandidieri) and kapok trees (Ceiba pentandra) during the austral winter.Eidolon dupreanumwas recorded feeding on the nectar of baobabs and kapok,P. rufuswas observed feeding on kapok only and noR. madagascariensiswere seen. Three mammals species, two small lemurs (Phaner furciferandMirza coquereli) andE. dupreanum, made nondestructive visits to floweringA. grandidieriand are therefore all potential pollinators of this endangered baobab. This is the first evidence to show thatA. grandidieriis bat‐pollinated and further demonstrates the close link between fruit bats and some of Madagascar's endemic plants.Eidolon dupreanumwas the only mammal species recorded visitingA. suarezensisand visits peaked at the reported times of maximum nectar concentration.Pteropus rufusvisited kapok mostly before midnight when most nectar was available, butE. dupreanumvisited later in the night. These differences in timing of foraging on kapok can be explained either by differing distances from the roost sites of each species or by resource partitioning. We advocate increased levels of protection, education awareness, and applied research on both mammal‐pollinated baobab species and fruit bats, and suggest that both baobabs and bats are candidate “flagship species” for the threatened dry forests of Madagascar.