Foods of the Pallid Bat, Antrozous pallidus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), in the Chihuahuan Desert of Western Texas

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Pallid bats, Antrozous pallidus, glean prey off the ground or from vegetation. During 27 March-19 November 2004, culled parts of prey were collected from under a night roost on Indio Mountains Research Station, Hudspeth County, Texas. Adjacent pitfall traps were monitored concurrently to determine species richness and seasonal abundance of potential prey. Prey representing 44 morphospecies from 4 classes, 13 orders, 25 families, and 34 genera were recovered and identified. Of the identified morphospecies, 29 were unrecorded previously in diet of the pallid bat. Orthopterans were the highest percentage of prey (44.1%), followed by coleopterans (26.8%), and solifugids (16.2%), but most taxa were represented by ,4% of the total. Conclusions are that arthropods are the primary food source, but a wide variety of species are consumed, there is occasional predation on vertebrates (three species of lizards), there are statistical differences between amount of prey eaten and abundance of prey in the same geographic area indicating selective foraging behavior, there are seasonal dietary shifts associated with common prey items, and there is geographic variation in diet of pallid bats when compared to studies from other localities within its geographic range.