湖南省翼手目新纪录——贵州菊头蝠

在湘西土家族苗族自治州吉首市矮寨镇四方洞和寨阳乡堂乐洞分别采到菊头蝠雌、雄性标本各1只,通过将其外形及头骨的测量数据同文献记载的外形相似的高鞍菊头蝠(Rhinolophus paradoxolophus)和马氏菊头蝠(R.marshalli)的特征进行对比,鉴定为贵州菊头蝠(R.rex),属湖南省翼手目新纪录,标本保存于吉首大学动物标本室.本文对其分布与保护现状也作了简要报道.     

大菊头蝠在湖南省分布新纪录

2007年1月11日,在湘西土家族苗族自治州吉首市寨阳乡堂乐洞采到菊头蝠雌性标本1只,经鉴定为湖南省翼手目新纪录,属大菊头蝠华南亚种(Rhinolophus luctus lanosus)。     

Foraging behavior and activity budgets of sea stars on a subtidal sediment bottom community

We dived at regular intervals (8, 12 or 14 h) over periods of 9 to 23 days to quantify the allocation of time to different activities by large adults of the four common sea stars foraging in a sediment bottom community (8 to 11 in depth) in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The relative time spent at different activities was similar for Leptasterias polaris and Asterias vulgaris, the most frequent activity being moving over the bottom (42-46% of the time), presumably in search of prey, secondly being stationary (26-27%), and thirdly digesting prey (17-20%). Capture of prey was less frequent, 13% of the time for L. polaris (mainly digging for bivalves) and 5% for A. vulgaris. Compared to L. polaris and A. vulgaris, Crossaster papposus spent more time being stationary and periods of moving were of shorter duration. Solaster endeca differed from the other sea stars because of the high proportion of time spent digesting prey (40%) and the small proportion of time spent moving (22%). Capture events were not observed for C. papposus and S. endeca, likely because they exclusively fed on epifaunal species, which were rapidly captured. For all four species, the most frequent changes between activities were between moving and being stationary. The number of days per prey eaten (length of a feeding bout) was about 11 for S. endeca, 6.6 for L. polaris, 3.1 for C. papposus and 2.8 for A. vulgaris. All sea stars appear to be energy maximizers that spend most of their time finding, capturing and digesting prey.     

Foraging activity of two species of predatory leeches exposed to active and sedentary prey

Summary The foraging activity of the freshwater leeches Nephelopsis obscura and Erpobdella punctata during acclimation to active or sedentary prey, starvation and refeeding was examined by filming over a 24 h cycle. For both species, the time of activity of individual leeches and the total number of leeches active were significantly correlated. Activity in the dark was significantly higher than in the light with the activity of N. obscura in the dark 16.2 times higher in terms of time and 6.7 times higher in terms of numbers of individuals moving than E. punctata. Large N. obscura were significantly more active than medium or small individuals and encountered more sedentary prey. With lower levels of activity E. punctata encounters and feeds on more active prey, and in lotic ecosystems its lower exposure to fish predation and drift is, at least partially, responsible for its numerical abundance over N. obscura. There were no significant differences in the activity of N. obscura or E. punctata fed on active or sedentary prey during either subsequent starvation of 1 to 10 d, or after refeeding, suggesting that unchanged foraging activity provides the optimun net energy gain during periods of change in prey type and availability.     

Characterization of 14 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the lesser horseshoe bat,Rhinolophus hipposideros (Rhinolophidae,Chiroptera)

Fourteen polymorphic microsatellites isolated in the lesser horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus hipposideros, are described. A subset of eight loci successfully coamplified in a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and allowed to confirm that expected heterozygosity was relatively high for the eight loci (0.56–0.83). This set of eight microsatellites indeed permits to build genetic tags that distinguish all individuals in colonies consisting of up to more than 1000 individuals.     

Foraging areas of Rousettus leschenaulti on the Hainan Island of China

We investigated the foraging area of three individuals (1 female and 2 males) of Rousettus leschenaulti (Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) in suburban Haikou City, Hainan Province, South China from November 2005 to January 2006 using radio telemetry. These animals left the daytime roosting sites about 90 min after sunset with no significant difference in departure time between the male and female bats. The average active times were 391.8 min for males and 533.7 min for the female, respectively. By reconstructing 93...     

大菊头蝠和中菊头蝠分娩声波的特征

动物的声学信号在信息传递和维持社群稳定等方面扮演了非常重要的角色,特别是对于占据夜空生态位并集群生活的蝙蝠,它们日间栖息于几乎没有光照的洞穴中。这些夜行性蝙蝠主要借助声信号介导重要生活史事件,包括生殖、觅食、通讯和空间导航等。分娩是动物生殖活动中的关键一环,决定了后代甚至母体的生死。一直以来野生动物的分娩行为,特别是分娩叫声鲜有研究。本研究以大菊头蝠(Rhinolophus luctus)和中菊头蝠(R. affinis)为研究对象,捕捉并录制其在分娩过程中的声信号,进而开展声谱分析和统计分类。研究发现,大菊头蝠和中菊头蝠在分娩过程中分别发出了6种和4种类型的交流声波。基于子集验证的判别式分析表明,大多数的音节类型都被正确划分。纳入多种声学参数的多维尺度分析显示,不同音节类型在三维图像中差异显著。此外,欧几里得距离分析发现,种间的叫声差异远大于种内的叫声差异。本研究结果可为深入揭示夜行哺乳动物的叫声功能和发声机制提供参考。     

Activity and shelter selection by Myotis myotis and Rhinolophus hipposideros hibernating in the Kateřinská cave (Czech Republic)

In 1992–1993, the bat species Myotis myotis and Rhinolophus hipposideros hibernating in the Kateřinská cave were investigated by means of regular censuses without any handling and marking of the animals. Three basic parameters of their shelters were recorded (position in cave, type and relative height). In total, during 26 checks we registered 1141 findings of nine bat species. Movement activity, expressed as percentage of new findings during a particular visit, was registered during the whole winter season. Its level fluctuated in different ways and the hibernation period of R. hipposideros could be divided into three different parts, while the level of M. myotis movement activity was relatively high during all season. The shelter selection of R. hipposideros was not dependent on the part of cave where the bats were hibernating, and it did not change during the season. Hibernating specimens of R. hipposideros most frequently used exposed places, in which they were always hanging free. Myotis myotis was registered in all types of shelter with one exception. Rhinolophus hipposideros used mainly the middle part of the cave at a distance between 121 and 180 m from the entrance. The most preferred part of the cave by M. myotis was a small segment of Corridor (between 21 and 30 m), i.e., the entrance part of the cave. Rhinolophus hipposideros is a highly specialized species which prefers parts of the cave with very stable microclimatic conditions and, on the contrary, M. myotis appears to be indifferent to all parameters studied, and it uses the shelters indiscriminately.     

中华菊头蝠的栖息生态特征及种群保护

中华菊头蝠(Rhinolophus sinicus)主要分布于我国境内,属于典型的洞栖食虫性蝙蝠,具有重要的研究意义与保护价值。近年,在湘西州境内的16个溶洞中对其栖息生态特征进行了观察,共记录到其个体12942只次,数据分析结果显示：该蝠是该区域溶洞中的居留型优势蝠种,具有集群冬眠的习性。每年的9月中下旬开始逐步聚群冬眠,翌年的3月底开始苏醒,其夏季的繁育场所非常隐蔽,通常位于人无法进入的洞段或人迹罕至的洞穴。总体上,其栖点主要集中于距洞口150—200 m(91.60%)的洞段,离地高度6—10 m(91.75%),多以“双足悬挂”的栖姿将身体悬空倒挂于洞道的顶壁。其体温与栖点温度之间不存在显著性差异(P>0.05),但具有明显的线性正相关关系(R~2=0.8886)。其栖点安全性春夏季高,秋冬季中等偏低。中华菊头蝠作为该区域洞栖性蝙蝠的优势种,在维持洞穴生态系统的稳定中发挥着至关重要的作用,加强对洞穴生态系统中蝙蝠伞护性的研究有助于洞穴生态保护教育及对蝙蝠种群的保护实践。     

棕背(鼠平)昼夜活动节律的研究

The diurnal activity rhythm of Clethrionomys rufocanus was studied under three different food conditions in a laboratory. The activity occurred both in the daytime and at night, but mainly at night (19:00～4:00). The mice fed with Mouse food exhibited six small peaks in their daily activity, and those fed with grass or hay exhibited seven, but the peak of the out nest night activity was 2～3 hours earlier.The activity amount of out nest was 30518.0 ±3694.9 s for those fed with grass, the next was 21811.7± 2288.0 s for those fed with hay, and the least was 15038.0±666.0 s for those fed with mouse food. The activity amount of feeding was 10867.3±1612.1 s for those fed with grass, much more than those fed with mouse food and hay. The activity amount for drinking was 988.5±79.1 s (fed with hay),568.9±60.9 s (fed with mouse food) and 139.3±47.2 s (fed with grass).     

Drastic increase in the prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in southern Bavaria, Germany

A survey on the prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in foxes was conducted in the administrative district of Starnberg (federal state of Bavaria, Germany) and some adjacent municipalities from October 2002 to March 2003. The background to the study was the scarcity of recent data for Bavaria, where, in contrast to neighbouring regions, a general increase in the prevalence of the parasite has not yet been demonstrated. To estimate the current infection rate, a total of 268 shot foxes were examined using the intestinal scraping technique, resulting in an overall prevalence of 51%. This was compared with retrospective data collected during the period from 1989 to 2001. For the corresponding area and season, the retrospective prevalence was estimated at 32%, based on 222 shot foxes. The prevalence and its temporal development differ considerably on small spatial scales. The most conspicuous change has taken place in the western part of the study area, where a previous prevalence of 35% has increased to 80% in 2002/2003.     

芦苇收割对震旦鸦雀觅食活动的影响

芦苇(Phragmites australis)湿地具有重要的社会经济价值和特殊的自然保育意义,芦苇收割是芦苇湿地管理的主要手段,往往对栖息于芦苇湿地中的动物群落产生影响,尤其对专食芦苇昆虫的鸟类影响较大。2007年1～4月,在长江口崇明岛崇西湿地科学实验站研究基地芦苇收割前后通过样方法研究了芦苇收割对震旦鸦雀(Paradoxornis heudei)觅食的影响。研究表明,芦苇收割显著减少了震旦鸦雀潜在食物资源,改变了震旦鸦雀觅食分布并使震旦鸦雀提前转移到新生芦苇枝上取食,芦苇收割后残留老芦苇枝对震旦鸦雀取食具有重要影响。芦苇收割时保留一定的斑块状和条带状老芦苇有利于震旦鸦雀利用新芦苇枝上潜在食物资源,可以在一定程度上缓解芦苇收割引起的震旦鸦雀食物短缺。     

Environmental correlates of Freckled Nightjar ( Caprimulgus tristigma ) activity in a seasonal, subtropical habitat

We examined environmental correlates of activity in the Freckled Nightjar (Caprimulgus tristigma), a nocturnal aerial insectivore that is resident year-round in the colder and drier parts of southern Africa. Specifically, we tested the prediction that air temperature (T _a), in addition to light availability, is a significant correlate of Freckled Nightjar activity. We found that aerial insect density varied by over three orders of magnitude (from <1.0 to 117.1 insects 1,000 m⁻³) during the course of the study, and was strongly and positively related to T _a. Nightjar activity was also significantly temperature-dependent, with a cessation of activity at T _a < 12°C. Consistent with previous studies, we found that activity levels were strongly related to ambient light, with markedly reduced activity levels on dark nights. The average number of Freckled Nightjars encountered per 14.6-km transect was 1.95 ± 2.44 nightjars transect⁻¹ during nights near full moon, but only 0.17 ± 0.61 nightjars transect⁻¹ around new moon. Our study reveals that caprimulgid activity can be significantly influenced by temperature as well as ambient light.     

Foraging behavior and morphology: seed selection in the harvester ant genus, Pogonomyrmex

Optimally foraging animals can be behaviorally or morphologically adapted to reduce the energetic and time costs of foraging. We studied the foraging behavior and morphology of three seed harvester ant species, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, P. desertorum, and P. occidentalis, to determine the importance of behavioral strategies and morphological features associated with load carriage in reducing the costs of foraging. We found that none of five morphological features we measured had a significant impact on seed selection. Also, body size did not influence running speed, an important variable in time costs of foraging. Temperature had the largest effect on running speed in these species. Our results show that these species have foraging strategies which minimize the time costs of traveling with seeds. We also describe a pattern where the running speed in individual-foraging species is less affected by increasing seed size than in trunk-trail foragers, when temperature and body mass are held constant. These results support previous work which showed that time costs are most important in seed selection for Pogonomyrmex, and suggest that central place foraging theory may need to accommodate variation in foraging strategy to more accurately predict optimal seed size selection in harvester ants. Received: 16 June 1997 / Accepted: 15 December 1997     

Foraging behavior of a Dipteran leaf miner on exploited and unexploited hosts

Summary The foraging behavior of females of the leaf miner, Agromyza frontella (Rondani), (Diptera: Agromyzidae) when encountering unexploited or exploited alfalfa plants was studied in large field cages and in laboratory bioassays. Females did not recognize any exploited leaflets before contacting them and did not distinguish between leaflets with an egg or first instar larva and unexploited leaflets, even after contact. Only one fly oviposited in leaflets which contained 80–120 nutrition holes, one late second or third instar larva or which were marked with an epideictic pheromone in field cages. In laboratory bioassays females oviposited less in leaflets containing a second or third instar larva or an empty larval mine than in unexploited ones. Females foraging on unexploited leaflets engaged in area-restricted search and 10 of 11 females remained on the test plant for the full 60 min of observation. However, females foraging on exploited plants were much more active, spent a greater proportion of their time searching for suitable hosts, had the highest rates of visitation to all above ground plant parts and emigrated to the cage walls before 60 min had elapsed. These quantitative measures of foraging behavior indicated that females ranked plants after landing on them in the following order: unexploited plants >plants marked with pheromone or with many nutrition holes >plants with late instar larvae. The order of host ranking by foragers was in general agreement with the suitability of the host plants for larval survival, development and reproduction, as estimated from previous laboratory studies.Females of A. frontella foraging on unexploited alfalfa plants fed and oviposited significantly more often in the upper apical leaflets than in the lower, older leaflets. However, the choice of feeding site by flies on exploited plants did not vary with leaflet position (age), indicating that females fed in order to sample leaflet quality and that females investigated lower (older) leaves after they discovered that the preferred upper leaves were occupied. These data suggest that high quality oviposition sites may be limiting for A. frontella females, which could explain why superparasitism of leaflets sometimes occurs in nature, even when unexploited sites are available.     

Foraging activity of the processional termiteHospitalitermes hospitalis (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) in the rain forest of Brunei,north-west Borneo

Summary Four colonies of the column-forming termiteHospitalitermes hospitalis (Haviland) were studied in a primary forest in Brunei Darussalam, north-west Borneo, and their trails mapped. The termites leave their nest in the afternoon to graze throughout the night, mainly on lichens growing high up on the trunk of a canopy tree. Colonies foraged from 46% to 72% of nights, and the mean and maximum trail length was 28.8 m and 65.2 m respectively. Each colony utilized between 14 and 26 trees, with many trees revisited and trails frequently re-used. The mean diameter of the utilized trees was significantly larger than the mean diameter of trees in the population at the study site. Termites often made consecutive foraging visits to the largest trees, particularlyShorea spp. At three colonies per hectare the nest density is lower than expected as more than 90% of potentially suitable trees are not exploited.     

Foraging energetics of the ant,Paraponera clavata

The energy currencies used by foraging animals are expected to relate to the energy costs and benefits of resource collection. However, actual costs of foraging are rarely measured. We measured the ratio of energetic benefit relative to cost (B/C) during foraging for the giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata. The B/C ratio was 3.9 for nectar-foragers and 67 for insect prey foragers. In contrast, the B/C ratio during foraging for seed harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) is over 1000, demonstrating that the B/C ratio can vary widely among ants. The B/C ratio was 300 times lower for nectar-foraging Paraponera than for the seed-harvesting Pogonomyrmex because of: (1) a 5-fold lower energetic benefit per trip, (2) a 10-fold greater cost due to longer foraging distances, and (3) a 6-fold greater energy cost per meter due to larger body size. For Paraponera daily colonial energy intake rates are similar to expeditures and may limit colony growth and reproduction. In contrast, for Pogonomyrmex energy intake rates are an order of magnitude higher than estimated costs, suggesting that Pogonomyrmex colonies are unlikely to be limited by short-term energy intake. We suggest that variation in individual B/C ratios may explain why the foraging behavior of Paraponera but not Pogonomyrmex appears sensitive to foraging costs.     

Foraging behaviour of a leafminer parasitoid in the field

Abstract. 1. The searching behaviour of the parasitoid Sympiesis sericeicornis Nees (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) is analysed under field conditions.
2. Females were tracked when flying around the canopy of apple trees infested with the tentiform leafminer Phyllonorycter cydoniella (D. & S.)(Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) and their behaviour studied at the level of a single mine and at the level of several mines on the same leaf (patch level).
3. The presence of mines is detected during flight. The foraging behaviour at the patch level is efficient: the female is able to distinguish the suitable from the unsuitable hosts and handle the suitable hosts first. Not all mines are visited before departure from the leaf and those left unvisited are exclusively mines without suitable hosts. The patch leaving rule is discussed.
4. An ethogram of the behaviour on the mine is constructed. Selected behavioural categories are analysed for different combinations of mine content and outcome of the visit to the mine. The assessment of the mine content is done in a differential way, quickly and without mistakes.
5. The results are discussed in the context of two environmental factors, wind speed and temperature, which reduce the available time for searching. They are also related to the growing percentage of unsuitable hosts during each host generation. Tentiform mines remain attractive for a long period of time, even after parasitism or emergence of the adult, and their examination reduces the rate of host discovery.