Food habits data were obtained from 26 species of bats from Turkey. Barbastella barbastellus, Myotis capaccinii, M. mystacinus, Plecotus auritus, P. austriacus, P. kolombatovici, P. macrobullaris, and Rhinolophus euryale were primarily moth feeders. Eptesicus bottae, E. serotinus, Myotis myotis, and Taphozous nudiventris fed heavily on beetles. Myotis aurascens and, M. brandtii fed heavily on Diptera. Myotis blythii and Tadarida teniotis were tentatively classified as cricket feeders at least in Turkey. Hypsugo savii, Miniopterus schreibersii, Myotis emarginatus, M. nattereri, Pipistrellus kuhlii, P. pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros, and R. mehelyi preyed on a variety of insects and may be treated as generalists. In 17 species, the foods found paralleled those previously reported in the literature, but in nine (some with notably small samples) they did not. These are apparently the first data on the food of Plecotus macrobullaris, P. kolombatovici, M. schreibersii, and M. aurascens.
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1 December 2009
Food and Feeding Habits of Some Bats from Turkey
John O. Whitaker,
Ahmet Karataş
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