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Diet of the Longfingered Bat Myotis capaccinii nursery inhabiting Miljacka II Cave, Croatia

One of the biggest nurseries of the Longfingered Bat in Europe inhabits Miljacka II Cave in the Krka National Park, Croatia. The number of bats estimated by tally counters and on photo images counts about 6000 individuals. The bats use the cave from May till the end of October. Although other 6 more bat species use the cave during the same period of time the interspecies spatial distribution is not overlapping. Pregnant Longfingered bat females group in the cave in late April/early May while during late May/early June they deliver their young. The lactation continues till mid/end of July. The droppings of bats were collected every 15 days from May till October 2000 from beneath the colony applying special netted stool. Overall 309 bat droppings were analyzed. The seasonal differences in diet composition as well as diet differences during pregnancy/lactation were established using frequency analysis. The overall diet consisted mainly of aquatic insects belonging to Trichoptera and Chironomidae. The exception is October during which prevail Chironomidae and Lepidoptera. In the prey are also recorded some Aranae that bats may have collected from the water surfaces or spider nets while commuting to the nearby river. Other Insects recorded in the diet were Ephemeroptera, Odonata (Zygoptera), Plecoptera, Orthoptera (Ensifera – Tetigonidae), Coleoptera (Chrysomelidae, Anthicidae), Diptera (Nematocera – Tipulidae, Mycetophilidae, Cecidomydae, Limoniidae, Simulidae, Culicidae, Sciaridae), Brachycera, Hymenoptera (Symphita – Ichneumonidae, Braconidae, Chalcididae, Formicidae) and Homoptera (Aphididae, Psyllidae, Cercopidae).

Myotis capaccinii; diat; nursery colony

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