Web-building spiders and blood-feeding flies as prey of the notch-eared bat (Myotis emarginatus)

Thierry Kervyn; Marie-Céline Godin; Rudy Jocqué; Patrick Grootaert; Roland Libois

doi:10.26496/bjz.2012.137

Authors

Thierry Kervyn Zoogeography Research Unit, University of Liège, Boulevard du Rectorat B22, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
Marie-Céline Godin Zoogeography Research Unit, University of Liège, Boulevard du Rectorat B22, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
Rudy Jocqué 2 Invertebrates non-insects section, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium
Patrick Grootaert Department Entomology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Roland Libois Zoogeography Research Unit, University of Liège, Boulevard du Rectorat B22, B-4000 Liège, Belgium

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26496/bjz.2012.137

Keywords:

food, spiders, Stomoxys calcitrans, Musca autumnalis, Geoffroy’s bat

Abstract

Conservation of the endangered notch-eared bat (M. emarginatus) requires a specific action plan based on precise ecological requirements of this species. The analysis of the diet of three colonies in southern Belgium revealed: (1) spatial and seasonal variations of the diet; (2) the consumption of web-building spiders (Araneus diadematus, Araneus triguttatus, Cyclosa conica, Enoplognatha sp., Larinioides patagiatus, Neriene emphana); (3) the predominance of blood-feeding dipterans in the diet (Stomoxys calcitrans and Musca autumnalis). Since the populations of these two ectoparasitic flies are sensitive to the use of antiparasitic drugs, these drugs should be used with caution by farmers and veterinarians in the vicinity of maternity colonies.

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