SEASONAL FOOD PREFERENCE OF THE INDIAN SHORT NOSED FRUITBATCYNOPTERUSSPHINX(WAHL) (CHIROPTERA: PTEROPODIDAE )1 K. EmmanuvelRajan,N. GopukumarNairandR. Subbaraj2 Key words: Cynopterus sphinx roosting tents, food items, folivory, food , preference, foraging strategy The short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterussphinx occurswidely in India. These plant-visiting bats feed upon fruits, leaves and flowers. Theyalsomodifythe leavesofcertain plantsas “tents” for roosting. Since the availability offruits and flowers is seasonal, their food items vary over the seasons. In addition to feeding on fruits and flowers, these bats also feedontheleavesofCassiafistulathroughouttheyear. Suchfolivoryofthesebatsmaybe energeticallymoreadvantageoustothemthan frugivory. Introduction Table1 FOODPLANTSOFCYNOPTERUS SPHINX A number of neotropical and palaeotro- Family Species Foodtype pical bats are known to modify leaves ofplants as “tents” for use as daytime roosts (Barbour Annonaceae PolyalthialongifoliaThw. Fruit 1932). The Indian short-nosed fruit bat AnnonasquamosaLinn. Fruit Cynopterus sphinx roosts in modified leaves of Moraceae FicusbengalensisLinn. Fruit the creeper Vernonia scandens and mast tree FicusreligiosaLinn. Fruit Polyalthia longifolia (Balasingh et al. 1993). MomsalbaLinn. Fruit Plant-visiting bats fromboththe neotropics and Mimosaceae Enterolobiumsaman Fruit palaeotropicsareknowntofeedondifferentplant PithecellobiumdulceBenth. Fruit parts such as flowers, pollen, fruit, nectar and AcacianiloticaLinn. Fruit Sapotaceae AchraszapotaLinn. Fruit leaves(KunzandDiaz 1995). Inall, 250 species BassialatifoliaRoxb. Fruit& of bats representingtwo families (Phyllostomidae Flowers and Pteropodidae) depend on plants as a source of food (Fleming 1988). McCann (1940) MimusopselengiLinn. Fruit Myrtaceae PsidiumguajavaLinn Fruit observed C. sphinx feeding on ripe dates. He EugeniajambolanaLam. Fruit concluded that these bats drank the juice and Combretaceae TerminaliacatappaLinn. Fruit discarded the pulp. Caesalpiniaceae CassiafistulaLinn. Leaves The available information relating to the & Anacardiaceae MangiferaindicaLinn. Fruit food habits of C. sphinx was mainly based on Flowers casual or incidental observations which have Rutaceae MurrayakoenigiiSperg. Fruit beenreviewedandsummarized. Consideringthe Clusiaceae CalophylluminophyllumLinn. Fruit paucityofinformationonfoodhabitsofC.sphinx Punicaceae PunicagranatumLinn. Fruit in southern India, the present study was Meliaceae AzadirachtaindicaA.Juss. Fruit Cucurbitaceae CephalandraindicaNaud. Fruit 'AcceptedNovember,1997 departmentofAnimalBehaviourandPhysiology Solanaceae SolanumtorvumSw. Fruit SchoolofBiologicalSciences, Rhamnaceae ZiziphusjujubaMill. Fruit MaduraiKamarajUniversity,Madurai 625021 India. , 24 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 96(1) APR 1999 FOOD PREFERENCE OF THE INDIAN SHORTNOSED FRUITBATCYNOPTERUS SPHINX (VAHL) Table2 FEEDINGSEASONALITYOFC.SPHINXONDIFFERENTSPECIES OFPLANTS Species Parts Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct eaten Polyalthialongifolia Fruit + + - - - - - + + + + + Annonasquamosa Fruit - - - - - + - - - - + - Ficusbengalensis Fruit + + - - + - + + - - - - Ficusreligiose Fruit - - + + + - - + + - - + Morusalba Fruit - - - - + + - - - + + - Enterolobiumsaman Fruit - - - - + + - - - - - - Pithecellobiumdulce Fruit - - - - + + + - - - - - Acacianilotica Fruit - - - - - - - - + + - - Achraszapota Fruit + + - + - - - - - - - - Bassialatifolia Flowers - - - - + - - - - - - - Bassialatifolia Fruit - - ' - - - - - + + + - - Mimusopselengi Fruit - - - + + + + - - - - - Psidiumguajava Fruit - - - + + + - - - - - - Eugeniajambolana Fruit - - - - - - - - + - - - Terminaliacatappa Fruit - + + + + + + + - - - - Cassiafistula Leaves + + + + + + + + + + + + Mangiferaindica Flowers - - - + + - - - - - - - Mangiferaindica Fruit - - - - - + + - - - - - Murrayakoenigii Fruit - - - - - - - - - + - - Calophylluminophyllum Fruit - - - + + + + - - - - - Punicagranatum Fruit - - - - - - - - + + - - Azadirachtaindica Fruit - - - - - - - + + + - - Cephalandraindica Fruit + - - + + - + - - + - + Solanumtorvum Fruit + - - - - + - - - - - - Ziziphusjujuba Fruit - - - + + - - - - - - - Vitisvinifera Fruit - - - - - - + - - - - - Lanneacoromandelica Fruit - - - - - - + - - - - - +:Presenceoffruits/flowers/leaves. JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 96(1), APR. 1999 25 . FOOD PREFERENCE OF THE INDIAN SHORTNOSED FRUITBATCYNOPTERUS SPHINX (VAHL) undertaken to determine the seasonal food Annonci squamosa Mangifera indica, Psidium , preference and feeding behaviour ofC. sphinx. guajava)theyareconsumedinsitu onthe fruiting trees. The food ofC. sphinx is listed in Table 1 Study Area andMethods The seasonal availability of plant food on which thebats feedare listed in Table 2. Studies were carried out (November 95- In the present study, C. sphinx was October 96) around the campus ofthe Madurai observed to feed on 25 plant species. This bat Kamaraj University (9° 58' N lat.; 78° 10* E mostly prefer the fruit of Terminalia catappa , long.). whichis available fora longerduration overthe Seeds and a large number of partially season(7months). Variousspeciesofpteropodid chewed fragments ofplant parts were dropped bats, including Cynopterus, have been reported by C. sphinx beneath the feeding roost and day toforageonthe fruitsofmorethan30 speciesof roost“tents”.Theplantsingestedwereidentified plants intropical and subtropicalregions (Fujita bytheseeds,fibrepellets,andleaves,whichwere 1991). collectedunderfeedingroostsand“tents”.These C. sphinx also feeds regularly on the remnants were collected in the early morning leaves ofC.fistula. This was also observed by hours on alternate days ofour study period. In Balasubramanian(1988)andBhat(1994). Such addition,observationswerealsomadeindifferent folivorymaybeenergeticallymoreadvantageous fruiting seasons, on the bats while they were for the bats than the ingestion of abundant feeding atthefeedingperches, andinthe “tents” amountsoflow-proteinfruits(KunzandIngalls duringthenightwiththehelpofredfilteredtorch 1994). Marshall (1983) observed that C. sphinx light (>610 nm). feed onflowers ofseveralplant species. Theflowering, fruitingandtheavailability Bhat (1994) observed C. sphinx feeding ofdifferent food items during different months only onthe flowers ofParkia biglandulosa, and ofthe yearwere recorded. Madhuca latifolia. However, duringthepresent study we observed that C. sphinx also feed on Observations the flowers of Bassia latifolia and Mangifera Dayroosts ofC. sphinx(numbers varying indica. The foraging strategy of these bats, from2to 11 individuals)werelocatedbytracing therefore,dependsontheavailability,apartfrom the fecalpellets andremains offruit, leaves and their preference, of different plant parts flowers. Sixdayroostswithasinglebatorsmall throughout the year. groups were located under a funnel and boat shaped tents made out ofdry fronds ofpalmyra Acknowledgement palm, Borassusflabellifer. Most ofthese roosts areusedforweeksormonths,andasa“maternity The authors gratefully acknowledge home”. financial assistance from the Department of While returning from foraging, C. sphinx EnvironmentandForests, GovernmentofIndia. carrydifferentpartsofplantstothe dayroosting (14/11/94 -MAB/RE). sites. Ifthe fruits are too large to transport (e.g. References Balasingh, J., S.S. Isaac, R. Subbaraj (1993): Tent- Balasubramanian, P. (1988): Short-nosed fruit bat roostingbythefrugivorousbatCynoptemssphinx Cynopterus sphinx (Vahl) feeding on leaves of (Vahl 1797)inSouthernIndia.Curr.Sci. (55:418. Cassia fistula at Point Calimere Wild Life 26 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 96(1) APR 1999 . FOOD PREFERENCE OF THE INDIAN SHORTNOSED FRUITBATCYNOPTERUS SPHINX (VAHL) Sanctuary. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 55:183. Kunz,T.H. & K.A. Ingalls(1994): Folivory in bats: an Barbour,T.(1932):Apeculiarroostinghabitofbats. Q. adaptation derived from frugivory. Fund. Ecol. Rev. Biol. 7:307-312. 8:665-668. Bhat,H.R.(1994):Observationsonthefoodandfeeding Kunz,T.H. &C.A. Diaz(1995): Folivory in fruit-eating behaviourofCynoptenissphitvc(Vahl)(Chiroptera: batswithnewevidencefromArtibeusjamaicensis Pteropodidae)atPune,India. Mammalia 58:363- (Chiroptera:Phyllostomidae)Biotropica27: 106- 370. 120 . Fujita,M.S.(1991):Flyingfox(Chiroptera:Pteropodidae), Marshall, A.G. (1983): Bats, flowers and fruits: Pollination, seed dispersal and economic Evolutionaryrelationshipsintheoldworld. Bio.J. importance: A tabular summary of current Linn. Soc. 20: 115-135. knowledge. Batconservation InternationalInc. McCann, Charles (1940): The short-nosed fruit-bat Resourcepublication No.2 Austin,Texas pp.62. (Cynopterussphinx)asanagentofseeddispersal Fleming, T.H. (1988): The short-tailed fruit bat. The inthewilddate{PhoenixsylvestrisL.)J.Bombay UniversityofChicagoPress:ChicagoandLondon. nat. Hist. Soc. 42: 184. JOURNAL. BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY. 96(1), APR. 1999 27