Diet of the Black-bearded Tomb Bat Taphozous melanopogon Temminck, 1841 (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) in India

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) The dietary composition of the Black-bearded Tomb Bat Taphozous melanopogon Temminck, 1841 (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) from two different habitats was analyzed following faecal pellet analysis method. Representatives of 11 insect orders and spiders (Araneidae) contributed to the diet. Forest bats fed on 1-9 insect orders and araneids indicating opportunistic feeding behaviour, while the semi-urban bats fed on 3-8 insect orders and araneids indicating selective feeding behaviour. Although both the forest bats and semi-urban bats fed on the same spectrum of insect prey they showed differential use of them. Forest bats fed predominately on Coleoptera, Homoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, Odonata and Araneidae, while the semi-urban bats preferred Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Orthoptera, Odonata, Hemiptera, Araneidae and Homoptera. Variation in terms of consumption of a particular kind of insect prey between the sexes was evident only among the semi urban bats only with respect to the most significant prey items coleopterans, lepidopterans and dipterans.