Territorial Advertisement and Mate Attraction in the Bat Pipistrellus pipistrellus

A South Swedish population of the vespertilionid bat Pipistrellus pipistrellus was studied by means of bat boxes from April to the beginning of October in 1984. The mating system of the pipistrelle bat is a “resource defence polygyny”. Three territorial males were studied to determine the relative importance of two potential resources, food and roost sites, for male reproductive success. The day roost was found to be the crucial resource for the male's chances to get access to females. A territorial male advertises the location of his day roost to the females by a songflight display. The male who spent most time in songflight display was visited by the greatest number of females.