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With bat populations declining in many parts of the world, detailed life history information will be critical for assessing vulnerabilities of bat populations and associated trophic effects. Myotis ciliolabrum (western small-footed bat) is a species of insectivorous bat distributed from the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast and from British Columbia to Central Mexico. The species is spottily distributed within this wider range but is locally abundant in areas containing appropriate rocky habitat. Despite M. ciliolabrum being relatively common, little information is available about its feeding ecology. Earlier studies have suggested that skull morphology can be used to determine whether insectivorous bats select for soft- or hard-bodied prey, but we hypothesized that M. ciliolabrum may feed opportunistically on a variety of insect types. To test this hypothesis, we examined the feeding habits of western small-footed bats captured during 2000-2022 at 6 national parks and 1 national conservation area across the Southwest. Visual analysis of prey remains in guano revealed that western small-footed bats within our study area consumed insects belonging to 7 orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, and Odonata) and 20 families. Diet varied over time and across geographic space, though we observed a general trend in which the orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera were consumed at the highest volumes. This varied diet indicates opportunistic feeding in which M. ciliolabrum makes use of locally abundant resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guano was analyzed for seven bat species captured while foraging within and adjacent to sites in south-central Indiana both before and after the sites were used as no-harvest controls or experimentally manipulated with either even-aged (clear-cut and shelterwood cut) or uneven-aged (group and single tree selection) techniques as part of the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE). Despite collecting samples for six years, sufficient samples for comparison were obtained for only three species: northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), and eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis). None of these species experienced a significant change in diet associated with experimental harvest. This result is surprising because concurrent studies on the HEE have shown insect prey abundance changes as a response to harvest treatments. Our results reinforce previous conclusions that bats are selective opportunists that focus on particular groups of insects even when habitat manipulations change the abundance of those foods. Keywords: Bats, diet, forest management, Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE), INTRODUCTION Insectivorous bats feed on night-flying insects, including many pest species. Understanding how the diets of these species changes with changing forest conditions is important to understand how bats respond [...]

ABSTRACT. The Indiana Forest Alliance (IFA) sponsored an extended biodiversity survey (i.e., Ecoblitz) between 2014 and 2018 within the Back-Country Area of Morgan Monroe and Yellowwood State Forest in Indiana. [...]

ABSTRACT. Researchers collect bat guano using a variety of techniques, and most samples are used for diet analysis. We provide recommendations for an easily-constructed guano collector that also samples a [...]

ABSTRACT. Field observations of newly-banded bats led to the hypothesis that co-roosting northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) fled to a single roost following diurnal disturbance. Five groups of co-roosting bats [...]

ABSTRACT. Long-term roosting ecology of the federally-endangered Indiana myotis (Myotis sodalis), in a rapidly-developing area immediately southwest of the Indianapolis International Airport was examined. A dead shagbark hickory, Carya ovata, [...]

Patterns of growth and development provide information critical for documenting population demographics. Herein we document the reproductive biology for and provide equations that accurately predict the ages of 2 widely sympatric species of bats from central Indiana--the northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) and the little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus). Young of M. septentrionalis were born synchronously (within a 6-day period) and within a narrow size range (mean length of forearm = 12.78 mm, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = [+ or -] 0.52 mm; mass = 1.91 g, 95% CI = [+ or -] 0.11 g). Young of M. lucifugus were born during a 42-day period and within a narrow size range (mean length of forearm = 14.26 mm, 95% CI = [+ or -] 0.23 mm; mean body mass = 2.19 g, 95% CI = [+ or -] 0.08 g). Young of M. septentrionalis were born significantly smaller (t = 4.52, d.f. = 137, P < 0.001) and lighter (t = 2.57, d.f. = 137, P < 0.05) than were young of M. lucifugus. We developed species-specific equations that made it possible to estimate the age of both species of bat to within 1 day. These results indicate that similar-sized and closely related bats grow at comparable rates and provide the 1st detailed information about reproductive biology of M. septentrionalis. Key words: bats, demographics, growth models, Myotis lucifugus, Myotis septentrionalis, reproduction

We captured female Lasiurus borealis near the Indianapolis International Airport during summers of 2003 and 2004 and radiotracked them during foraging. We obtained complete foraging data on 13 bats. A series of multi-azimuth (3-7) triangulations was used to estimate the location of each bat throughout the night. Distance based analysis was used to examine habitat use by L. borealis. Lasiurus borealis had both smaller home ranges than previously noted and smaller home ranges than other species at this location. Lasiurus borealis foraged in woodlands and over newly planted tree fields, open water, park and pasture lands more than predicted by randomly generated points and avoided highly urban areas such as commercial lands, gravel pits and transportation corridors.

ABSTRACT. Little information is available about how bats respond to landscape-scale disturbances. Herein is presented a comparison of two distinct forms of managed lands. Camp Atterbury is an active military [...]

ABSTRACT. The Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is just west of Indianapolis and just north of Highway 1-70 in Marion County. These bats have been studied since 1991 and comprise a [...]

ABSTRACT. We collected 39 species of fish from 10 sites along the East Fork of White Lick Creek in Marion and Hendricks counties, Indiana from May through August 2002 in [...]

ABSTRACT. Prior to the construction of a new highway interchange on lands managed by the Indianapolis International Airport, we surveyed the amphibians and reptiles. This study was done in Hendricks [...]

ABSTRACT. We report the results of a BioBlitz held on 24-25 October 2008, at the Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve in Evansville, Indiana, Vanderburgh County. We recorded 260 taxa, including 136 [...]

ABSTRACT. A juvenile male hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) was radio-tracked to day roosts and foraging areas within an undeveloped area in suburban Indianapolis. The bat roosted with two other bats, [...]

ABSTRACT: The Indianapolis International Airport is in a highly developed area. The bats there have been studied since 1991 and comprise a diverse community of all the species one might [...]

Genetic mark-recapture methods are increasingly being used to estimate demographic parameters in species where traditional techniques are problematic or imprecise. The federally endangered Indiana bat Myotis sodalis has declined dramatically and threats such as white-nose syndrome continue to afflict this species. To date, important demographic information for Indiana bats has been difficult to estimate precisely using traditional techniques such as emergence counts. Successful management and protection of Indiana bats requires better methods to estimate population sizes and survival rates throughout the year, particularly during summer when these bats reproduce and are widely dispersed away from their winter hibernacula. In addition, the familial makeup of maternity colonies is unknown, yet important for understanding local and regional population dynamics. We had four objectives in this study. For the first two objectives we investigated the potential use of DNA from fecal samples (fecal DNA) collected at roosts to obtain genetically based mark-recapture estimates of 1) colony size and 2) survival rates, for an Indiana bat maternity colony in Indianapolis, Indiana. The third objective was to compare our genetically based colony-size estimates with emergence counts conducted at the same roost tree to evaluate the genetic mark-recapture method. Our fourth objective was to use fecal DNA to estimate levels of relatedness among individuals sampled at the roost. In the summer of 2008, we collected fecal pellets and conducted emergence counts at a prominent roost tree during three time periods each lasting 7 or 8 d. We genotyped fecal DNA using five highly polymorphic microsatellite loci to identify individuals and used a robust-design mark-recapture approach to estimate survival rates as well as colony size at the roost tree. Emergence count estimates at the roost tree ranged from 100 to 215, whereas genetic mark-recapture estimates were higher, ranging from 122 to 266 and more precise. Apparent survival was 0.994 (SE ¼ 0.04) between sampling periods suggesting that few bats died or permanently emigrated during the course of the study. Relatedness estimates, r, between all pairs of individuals averaged 0.055 ranging from 0 to 0.779, indicating that most individuals were not closely related. We demonstrate here the promise of using fecal DNA to estimate demographic information for Indiana bats and potentially other bat species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. The movement of bats is a subject requiring greater understanding among conservationists and wildlife managers. Close spatial movements as well as longer spatial movements, such as migration, can impact [...]

The article discusses the threat posed by exotic earthworms to bats. It elaborates on the prevalence and distribution of exotic earthworms in North America which devour on the forest litter used by bats such as the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), Seminole bat (L. seminolus), and the hoary bat (L. cinereus) in the region during hibernation. It concludes that these earthworms and the White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) continue to threaten bats.

We collected ectoparasites from 5 Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Myotis) and 12 Myotis leibii (Eastern Small-Footed Myotis) captured in Grant County, WV during summer 2008. We recovered Euschoengastia pipistrelli from Northern Myotis and Leptotrombidium myotis, Androlaelaps casalis, Cryptonysuss desultorius, and Ornithodorus kelleyi from Eastern Small-Footed Myotis. This is the first report of parasites from either bat in West Virginia, and each ectoparasite species collected represents a new state host locality record, with C. desultorius and O. kelleyi being new state records. Because records of ectoparasites are often widely scattered and both bats have undergone extensive taxonomic revision, we summarize all available records of ectoparasites from both species of bats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]