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Folivory with leaf folding by giant flying squirrels: its patterns and possible function

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Japanese giant flying squirrels, Petaurista leucogenys, are entirely arboreal folivores. From spring to summer, their principal food source consists of leaves of the deciduous oak Quercus acutissima in western Tokyo, Japan. Before consuming the central part of each leaf, the squirrels fold the leaf two or more times with their forelegs. In the wild, leaf folding is a very rare behavior, even in primates. In our study, this peculiar feeding behavior was not observed across all study sites or even in some local populations. Herbivores generally try to maximize their intake of nutritious foods (e.g., sugars) containing low levels of plant defensive chemicals (e.g., phenols). We found that total phenolic contents in individual leaves of Q. acutissima were lower in the center than at the margins, whereas sugar (glucose) was homogenously distributed. Consequently, consumption of only leaf centers appears to be an adaptation by Japanese giant flying squirrels to avoid leaf margin defensive chemicals and structures. These leaf margin characteristics, which may have developed as defenses against herbivorous insects that generally feed from the margins, have contributed to the skillful and complex feeding behavior of this generalist folivore.

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Acknowledgments

We thank John L. Koprowski for providing funding from the University of Arizona BRAVO! undergraduate research program to NS and BR for research in Tokyo during the summer in 2013. We also thank Renee M. Borges for useful information on the leaf feeding patterns of Ratufa squirrels introduced to Kawamichi (2015) and Tamotsu Kusano for helping with the statistical analysis. This study was partly supported by competitive research funding from the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, to FH in 2015 and by a Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society to MI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minamiosawa 1-1, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan

    Mutsumi Ito & Fumio Hayashi

  2. The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0106, USA

    Nickie Seto & Brianna Rico

  3. Wildlife Management Inc., Nishi-Naruse 2-17-22, Machida, 194-0046, Japan

    Mayumi Shigeta

  4. Tama Forest Science Garden, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Todori 1833-81, Hachioji, Tokyo, 193-0843, Japan

    Noriko Tamura

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  1. Mutsumi Ito
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Correspondence to Mutsumi Ito.

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Ito, M., Seto, N., Rico, B. et al. Folivory with leaf folding by giant flying squirrels: its patterns and possible function. Ecol Res 31, 617–626 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-016-1371-x

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