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Activity levels of bats and katydids in relation to the lunar cycle

  • Behavioural Ecology
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Abstract

Animals are exposed to many conflicting ecological pressures, and the effect of one may often obscure that of another. A likely example of this is the so-called “lunar phobia” or reduced activity of bats during full moon. The main reason for lunar phobia was thought to be that bats adjust their activity to avoid predators. However, bats can be prey, but many are carnivorous and therefore predators themselves. Thus, they are likely to be influenced by prey availability as well as predation risk. We investigated the activity patterns of the perch-hunting Lophostoma silvicolum and one of its main types of prey, katydids, to assess the influence of the former during different phases of the lunar cycle on a gleaning insectivorous bat. To avoid sampling bias, we used sound recordings and two different capture methods for the katydids, as well as video monitoring and radio-telemetry for the bats. Both, bats and katydids were significantly more active during the dark periods associated with new moon compared to bright periods around the full moon. We conclude that foraging activity of L. silvicolum is probably influenced by prey availability to a large extent and argue that generally the causes of lunar phobia are species-specific.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the Austrian Academy for Sciences (DOC-2002) and the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz to ABL, the Roche Research Foundation, the ZUNIV-Fonds zur Förderung des Akademischen Nachwuchses (FAN) to DKND, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF-P14257) to HR. and the German Science Foundation (DFG) to EKVK. The following people helped with the fieldwork: Maria Demir, Silke Heucke, Jamie Mandel, Anita Schulz, Moritz Weinbeer, and especially Christa Weise, who also helped with proof reading and important discussions. Kamran Safi helped with the data analysis. Frieder Neuhäuser-Wespy supported development of equipment. Robert Barclay, Mark Brigham, Johan Eklof, Alan McElligott, Sabine Spehn and two anonymous reviewers gave valuable input on drafts of this paper. We are grateful to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and the National Authority for the Environment (ANAM) for research permits and logistical support, which ensured that all work was conducted in conformity with current Panamanian laws.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurobiology and Animal Behavior Institute for Zoology, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Alexander B. Lang & Heinrich Römer

  2. Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm,  , Germany

    Elisabeth K. V. Kalko & Dina K. N. Dechmann

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,  , Panama

    Elisabeth K. V. Kalko

  4. Animal Physiology, University of Tübingen,  , Germany

    Cecile Bockholdt

  5. Zoologisches Institut, Universität Zürich,  , Switzerland

    Dina K. N. Dechmann

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  1. Alexander B. Lang
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  2. Elisabeth K. V. Kalko
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  4. Cecile Bockholdt
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  5. Dina K. N. Dechmann
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Correspondence to Alexander B. Lang.

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Communicated by Roland Brandl

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Lang, A.B., Kalko, E.K.V., Römer, H. et al. Activity levels of bats and katydids in relation to the lunar cycle. Oecologia 146, 659–666 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0131-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0131-3

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