The diets of British bats (Chiroptera)

Sixty-one studies of the diets of 15 species of bats found in the British Isles are reviewed. Fourteen studies describe the diets of more than one species. Barbastella barbastellus and Plecotus spp. eat mainly Lepidoptera. Eptesicus serotinus takes mainly Coleoptera, but feeds on a wide range of prey, found in several habitats. Rhinolophus ferrumequinum hunts mainly Coleoptera and Lepidoptera by hawking, gleaning and perch hunting. Myotis bechsteinii takes mostly woodland families of Diptera and Lepidoptera. The remaining nine species eat mainly Diptera. Myotis nattereri feeds almost entirely on diurnal Diptera, gleaned from their nightly resting places. Rhinolophus hipposideros and Myotis mystacinus take mostly swarming crepuscular Diptera by hawking, probably near water and in damp wooded areas; both also glean. Myotis brandtii feeds on Diptera by hawking and gleaning; Nyctalus noctula by hawking. Myotis daubentonii, Pipistrellus spp. and Nyctalus leisleri eat many aquatic Diptera, and may therefore be expected to feed close to freshwater habitats. M. daubentonii hunts by trawling aquatic Diptera from the surface of water.     

The function of daylight flying in British bats

A national survey of the incidence of daylight flying of bats in mainland Britain was organized from September 1985 until March 1988. A total of 420 records of daylight flying were received by 1 May 1988. One hundred and forty-four reports were from winter (October to March), 271 from summer (April to September) and five were undated. Peak activity occurred during April and in August/September.
Activity in both winter and summer was greatest between 12:00 and 16:00h. The numbers of bats involved in each sighting varied between 1 and 200. In summer 87% and in winter 91% of observations were of single individuals. Numbers of daylight-flying bats, relative to roost visitor reports sent to the Nature Conservancy Council, increased with increasing latitude during both summer and winter. This means that an individual is more likely to fly in daylight the further north in Britain it lives. The effect of day-to-day variation in climatic variables on emergence was investigated for records from 1987. In April 1987 emergence occurred on days which followed significantly cooler nights than nights preceding days without emergence. During the remainder of the summer of 1987, however, no climatic effects were significant. During winter 1987 emergence occurred on days which were significantly warmer and sunnier.
These data suggest that during summer the primary function of emergence during daylight is to feed to make good energy deficits that have accrued because of inadequate intake during nocturnal foraging. During winter, bats time their daylight emergences to coincide with good feeding conditions, as has been shown previously for winter nocturnal emergence. It is possible daylight emergence occurs during winter primarily because the endogenous cycle during hibernal torpor cannot accurately synchronize arousal with periods of darkness.     

Ectoparasitic insects of bats in British Columbia, Canada

One species of parasitic bug (Hemiptera : Cimicidae), 3 species of fleas (Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae), and 2 species of parasitic flies (Diptera : Nycteribiidae) were collected from 9 species of bats (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae) in southern interior and northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Female bats that return daily to maternity roosts were more frequently infested with both cimicids and ischnopsyllids than were male bats. Some differences in ectoparasite infestation can be attributed to differences in roosting behavior of the host. New national records for 2 parasite species, and 8 new host records are established for Canada.     

Effects of salinity on rates of infestation of waterbirds by haematozoa

A recent hypothesis suggested that migration patterns in waders and other birds could be shaped by the distribution of parasites and diseases. This hypothesis assumes a reduced exposure to parasites in species living in saline habitats. To test this assumption. the number of species of haematozoa and rates of infection reported for bird species living in fresh and salt-water habitats were compared. Speceses living in more saline habitats had fewer haenatozoic parastte species than freswater birds., Relative frequency of infection was also lover in saltwater species. Neither phylogeny not the number of individuals examined for blood parasies in each species explained these diferencfes. Thus there is indece evidence hat birds living in saline habitats have a reduced risk of being parasitized by haematozoa. Probably due to a reduced abundance of the inverebtare vectors.     

Rabies prevalence in migratory tree-bats in Alberta and the influence of roosting ecology and sampling method on reported prevalence of rabies in bats

The migratory tree-roosting hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) and silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are among the bat species with the highest reported prevalence of rabies in North America. However, bats submitted for rabies testing typically have been those that have come in contact with humans or pets. Given the roosting ecology of L. cinereus and L. noctivagans, contact with healthy individuals of these species is expected to be rare, with a bias in contact and submission of infected individuals and thus an overestimation of rabies prevalence. We tested 121 L. cinereus and 96 L. noctivagans specimens, collected during mortality surveys at wind energy facilities in Southern Alberta, Canada in 2007 and 2008, for rabies. None of the L. cinereus (0%) and one L. noctivagans (1%) tested positive for rabies. Prevalence of rabies was significantly lower than previously reported estimates, passive and active, for L. cinereus and L. noctivagans. In a review of the literature including multiple bat species, we found a significant difference in estimates of rabies prevalence based on passive versus active surveillance testing. Furthermore, roosting ecology influenced estimates of rabies prevalence, with significantly higher prevalence among passive surveillance submissions of nonsynanthropic species compared to synanthropic species, a trend not evident in active surveillance reports. We conclude that rabies prevalence in randomly collected L. cinereus and L. noctivagans is low and comparable to active surveillance estimates from other species (≤ 1%), and that roosting ecology influences estimates of rabies prevalence among bats submitted to public health laboratories in North America.     

Field Studies in British Honduras

Readings in Genetics and Evolution Edited by J. J. HEAD Oxford University Press (1973). £3.50 Reviewed by J. A. Beardmore

Projects for Environmental Studies Edited by URSULA BOWEN Pp. v+57+24 diagrams and charts Oxford : Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Naturalist's Trust. 50p. Reviewed by Keith Barber

Environmental Education Volume 2, Summer 1973. Pp. 64 + some diagrams. National Association for Environmental Education. Reviewed by U. K. Smith

School Grounds By P. F. JENKINS Pp. 45 and many photographs and diagrams. London : Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. 60p Reviewed by U. K. Smith

Laboratory Techniques in Chemistry and Biochemistry Second Edition P. S. DIAMOND and R. F. DENMAN Pp. v+499+202figs. London: Butterworths. £7.00 Reviewed by B. L. Williams

How Trees Grow Studies in Biology No. 39 PHILIP R. MOREY Pp. 59+25 figs.+4 plates. London : Edward Arnold. 75p. Reviewed by D. J. B. White

Ecological Biology 1 : Organisms and their Environments Edited by D. W. EWER and J. B. HALL Pp. ix+334. London: Longman Group Ltd. £2.50 Reviewed by John Mattocks

Statistical Thinking JOHN L. PHILLIPS, Jr. Pp. xv+124+56 figs. San Francisco : W. H. Freeman and Co. $2.50 Reviewed by M. B. Usher

Seed to Civilisation: The Story of Man's Food C. B. HEISER, Jr. Pp. xii+243+83figs. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co. Cloth £3.60; Paper back £1.50 Reviewed by R. Thomas

Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions PAUL R. EHRLICH, ANNE H. EHRLICH and JOHN P. HOLDREN Pp. x+304+66 figs. +31 tables. Reviewed by Paul Rogers

Methodological Developments in Biochemistry, Volume 3: Advances with Zonal Rotors Edited by ERIC REID Pp. ii+263. London: Longman Group Ltd. £3.00 Reviewed by A. P. Mathias

Oxford Biology Readers Edited by J. J. HEAD. Oxford University Press 1973. 20p each. Reviewed by John Webster     

Studies on the cloacal flora of three species of free-living British reptile

Cloacal swabs from seven free-living Grass snakes ( Nutrix natrix ), six adders ( Vipera berus ) and 17 slow-worms ( Anguis fragilis ) were cultured for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The number of species isolated was 18, 16 and 29, respectively, and the most prevalent organisms were entero-cocci (Grass snakes) and Escherichia coli (adders and slow-worms). There were surprisingly few anaerobes. Bacteria with zoonotic potential included Arizona (Salmonella) arizonae from four slow-worms and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis from an adder.     

Studies on the prevalence of tinea capitis infection in Ile-Ife,Nigeria

Investigations were carried out into the prevalence of tinea capitis infection among school children in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The prevalence rate of clinical infection was found to be 14.02%. The infection was found to be more frequent among pupils between ages 5 and 10 years, and more prevalent among the poor than the rich (p<0.005). Families having between 1 and 4 children had lower prevalence than families having minimum of five children (p<0.10). Approximately one-third of the clinically infected children were not receiving any treatment while about two-thirds of the remaining two-thirds were using local native remedies, some of which had resulted in deaths of some children. The most common causative agent isolated from the lesions was Microsporum audouinii.     

Absence of haematozoa in a wild chinstrap penguin Pygoscelis antarctica population

No haematoza were detected in 40 adult and 58 nestling wild chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) from Antarctica examined by blood smear. Received: 27 November 1996 / Accepted: 24 March 1997