The Use of Olfaction in Food Location by Frugivorous Bats

Bat-dispersed fruits and bat-pollinated flowers commonly produce strong odors (van der Pijl 1957, 1982; Start 1974), suggesting that olfactory cues are important in the location of food by frugivorous bats (Kingdon 1974, Marshall 1983). Direct empirical evidence of the importance of olfaction in fru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biotropica 1988-06, Vol.20 (2), p.161-164
Main Authors: Rieger, James F., Jakob, Elizabeth M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal ethology
Bats
Biological and medical sciences
Commuting
Food economics
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Mammalia
Odors
Olfactory perception
Phyllostomidae
Plants
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Vertebrata
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Summary:Bat-dispersed fruits and bat-pollinated flowers commonly produce strong odors (van der Pijl 1957, 1982; Start 1974), suggesting that olfactory cues are important in the location of food by frugivorous bats (Kingdon 1974, Marshall 1983). Direct empirical evidence of the importance of olfaction in frugivorous bats appears to be lacking. Here, the authors report the results of a field experiment conducted to determine if phyllosomid bats respond to olfactory cues in locating fruit resource patches represented by baited mist nets.
ISSN:0006-3606
1744-7429
DOI:10.2307/2388189