Territorial calls of the bat Hipposideros armiger may encode multiple types of information: body mass, dominance rank and individual identity

Effects of λ-cyhalothrin on the behavior and physiology of Leschenault's rousette bat (Rousettus leschenaultii)

In addition to exerting direct toxic effects, pesticides disrupt the complex physiology and behavioral patterns of bats. Previous studies have focused on quantifying pesticide residues in bats. However, limited studies have examined the effects of pesticides on acoustic behavior, auditory health, and gene expression in bats. This study examined the effects of λ-cyhalothrin on vocalization, auditory health, and gene expression in Rousettus leschenaultii by integrating behavioral, cochlear pathological, and transcriptomic analyses. Exposure to low and high concentrations of λ-cyhalothrin increased the frequencies of social calls in R. leschenaultii. Histological analysis revealed that λ-cyhalothrin induced tympanic canal bleeding, Reissner's membrane rupture, and cell shedding in the tectorial membrane and the organ of Corti. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that λ-cyhalothrin significantly altered the enrichment of genes in Gene Ontology entries, especially those related to actin, transport protein for sodium-potassium ion channel, and the calcium pathway. These results suggest that λ-cyhalothrin exposure alters social calls in R. leschenaultii by inducing pathological damage and dysregulating gene expression in the cochlea. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate pesticide impacts on bats and their ecological roles.

Understanding the role of bats as fungal vectors in the environment

Bats (Chiroptera), the second largest group of mammals, are known for their unique immune system and their ability to act as vectors for various zoonoses. Bats also act as important carriers of fungi, which include plant, animal, and human pathogens. Their roosting areas, foraging behaviors, and even migration routes make bats ideal vectors for fungi. We isolated 75 culturable fungal species from bats in Yunnan Province, China, with 36 species representing known pathogens of plants, animals, and humans, while 39 species are non-pathogenic fungi. Among these species, 77% (58 species) belonged to Ascomycota, 9% (seven species) belonged to Basidiomycota, and 13% (10 species) belonged to Mucoromycota. Even though several taxonomic studies on fungi associated with bats have been published, studies exploring the role of bats as fungal vectors are lacking. This study discusses the fungi host-specific traits and pathogenicity and the impact and ecological significance of bats as fungal vectors.

Acoustic features and morphological parameters of the domestic chickens

Acoustic characteristics reflect male quality and play a role in female mate choice. Thus, the frequency of vocalizations and temporal characteristics are often related to body size within and across species. However, it is less clear whether acoustic features can reveal information about individual quality in the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) populations. Here, we investigated the relationship between morphological parameters and acoustic features in male and female free-ranged domestic chickens in Liuzhi, Guizhou, southwest China, and further examined whether acoustic characteristics correlate with internal organs, including the heart, liver, testis, and spleen in male chickens, and whether the cackling call of females indicates body size and mass. We found that both male and female chickens differ significantly in their morphological parameters; however, based on acoustic parameters, they only differ in high frequency. Morphological parameters displayed no relationship with the frequency and duration of calls in both male and female chickens. Furthermore, none of the frequency or temporal parameters of the calls we studied were related to the internal body parameters of males.

The Consumption and Diversity Variation Responses of Agricultural Pests and Their Dietary Niche Differentiation in Insectivorous Bats

Insectivorous bats are generalist predators and can flexibly respond to fluctuations in the distribution and abundance of insect prey. To better understand the effects of bats on arthropod pests, the types of pests eaten by bats and the response of bats to insect prey need to be determined. In this study, we performed DNA metabarcoding to examine prey composition and pest diversity in the diets of four insectivorous species of bats (Hipposideros armiger, Taphozous melanopogon, Aselliscus stoliczkanus, and Miniopterus fuliginosus). We evaluated the correlation between bat activity and insect resources and assessed dietary niche similarity and niche breadth among species and factors that influence prey consumption in bats. We found that the diets of these bats included arthropods from 23 orders and 200 families, dominated by Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera. The proportion of agricultural pests in the diet of each of the four species of bats exceeded 40% and comprised 713 agricultural pests, including those that caused severe economic losses. Bats responded to the availability of insects. For example, a higher abundance of insects, especially Lepidoptera, and a higher insect diversity led to an increase in the duration of bat activity. In areas with more abundant insects, the number of bat passes also increased. The dietary composition, diversity, and niches differed among species and were particularly significant between H. armiger and T. melanopogon; the dietary niche width was the greatest in A. stoliczkanus and the narrowest in H. armiger. The diet of bats was correlated with their morphological and echolocation traits. Larger bats preyed more on insects in the order Coleoptera, whereas the proportion of bats consuming insects in the order Lepidoptera increased as the body size decreased. Bats that emitted echolocation calls with a high peak frequency and duration preyed more on insects in the order Mantodea. Our results suggest that dietary niche differentiation promotes the coexistence of different bat species and increases the ability of bats to consume insect prey and agricultural pests. Our findings provide greater insights into the role of bats that prey on agricultural pests and highlight the importance of combining bat conservation with integrated pest management.

Predictors of dominance rank and agonistic interactions in captive Livingstone's fruit bats

Male dominance hierarchies have been studied in many animals but rarely in bats (Chiroptera). The dominance rank of social animals may dictate access to resources and mates; therefore, it has important implications for an individual's fitness and is crucial for successful captive management. Between January and December 2018, at both Bristol Zoo Gardens (Bristol, UK) and Jersey Zoo (Jersey, British Isles), we observed 19 male Livingstone's fruit bats Pteropus livingstonii using focal follows for 345 h overall, noting the outcome of all agonistic interactions. We recorded instigators of interactions, along with winners and losers, and analyzed these data using the R-package "EloRating" to create Elo-rating temporal plots of dominance ranks. We used generalized linear mixed models and multiple linear regression to analyze interaction data and test hypotheses regarding predictors of dominance rank, frequency of agonistic interaction, and choice of interaction partner. Age was positively correlated with dominance rank up to around year 9, when an asymptote was attained. Highly ranked bats instigated the most agonistic interactions, and largely directed these interactions at bats with much lower rankings than themselves. Hierarchies were extremely stable throughout the data collection period at both sites. We conclude that Livingstone's fruit bats have a stable linear dominance hierarchy, with high-ranking, typically older males instigating the most interactions with lowest ranking males to secure dominance rank. This study adds to the limited discourse on Pteropus social behaviors, indicating that some bat species may have social systems similar in complexity to some nonhuman primates.

Horneros consider their neighbors as precious foes regardless of territory size and human disturbance

Research on neighbor-stranger discrimination theory has revealed the significance of social context and biological traits affecting the mechanisms that drive social discrimination, such as the dear enemy or nasty neighbor effects (strangers or neighbors more threatening, respectively). Nevertheless, the effects of territory size and human activity on neighbor-stranger experiments have yet to be explored. By examining behavioral responses to spontaneous duets of neighbors and playbacks of strangers' duets, we tested whether rufous horneros (Furnarius rufus) in smaller territories show heightened aggression, responding more strongly to strangers and less to neighbors than those in larger territories. This could be expected because birds in larger territories might struggle to differentiate competitors due to limited interactions, hindering familiarity with neighbors. Meanwhile, birds in smaller territories are likely to treat neighbors as dear enemies due to the need to minimize territorial costs caused by presumed frequent intrusions or to protect limited resources. Contrary to predictions, rufous horneros responded more strongly to strangers than neighbors, regardless of owner territory sizes. This suggests that the presumed higher intruder frequency in smaller territories does not necessarily lead to adjusted dear enemy relationships. Yet, small territory holders exhibited heightened vocal responses to duets of unfamiliar intruders, indicating a stronger 'dear enemy' effect compared to birds with larger territories. We also tested whether dear enemy relationships would be heightened during weekends. This is linked to the difficulty urban birds might face in distinguishing neighbors from strangers during high human activity days (i.e., on weekdays), due to factors like noise masking intruder acoustic cues and heightened vigilance. Territorial owners exhibited consistent dear enemy behavior towards neighbors, regardless of our proxy for human activity. This underscores their ability in identifying competitor identities within urban settings.

Geographic Variation in Social Vocalizations of the Great Himalayan Leaf-Nosed Bat, Hipposideros armiger: Acoustic Overflow Across Population Boundaries

Bat populations employ rich vocal repertoires for social communication in addition to emitting sound pulses for echolocation. Acoustic parameters of echolocation pulses can vary with the context in which they are emitted, and also with the individual and across populations as a whole. The acoustic parameters of social vocalizations, or “calls”, also vary with the individual and context, but not much is known about their variation across populations at different geographic locations. Here, we leveraged the detailed acoustic classification of social vocalizations available for the Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bat, Hipposideros armiger, to examine geographic variation in five commonly emitted simple syllable types. We hypothesized that individuals within geographically dispersed populations communicate using spectrographically similar constructs or “syllable types”. We also examined whether call syllables vary discordantly with the correlation pattern observed for echolocation pulses across those same geographic regions. Furthermore, we postulated that the acoustic boundaries of a syllable type are not uniquely constrained to its variation within a particular population of the same subspecies. To test our hypotheses, we obtained recordings of social calls of H. a. armiger from nine locations within the oriental region. These locations were consolidated into five geographic regions based on previously established region-specific differences in the peak frequency of echolocation pulses. A multivariate cluster analysis established that unlike echolocation pulses, syllable types exhibit a relatively large variance. Analysis of this variance showed significant differences in Least Squares Means estimates, establishing significant population-level differences in the multiparametric means of individual syllable types across geographic regions. Multivariate discriminant analysis confirmed the presence of region-specific centroids for different syllable constructs, but also showed a large overlap of their multiparametric boundaries across geographic regions. We propose that despite differences in the population-specific core construct of a syllable type, bats maximize acoustic variation across individuals within a population irrespective of its overflow and overlap with other populations.

The Potential to Encode Detailed Information About Parasites in the Acoustic Signals of Chinese Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus sinicus)

Condition-dependent acoustic signals that potentially reveal information about the signaler’s physical or physiological condition are common and important in the animal kingdom. Given the negative effects of parasites on the health and fitness of their hosts, it is reasonable to expect animal acoustic signals to reflect detailed information concerning parasite infection. However, despite previous studies having verified the potential of sexually selected vocalizations to provide information on parasitism based on the correlations between call acoustic properties and parasitism in some animal taxa, less is known about whether acoustic signals used in a non-sexual context also reflect parasite infection especially for highly vocal bats. We thus investigated the relationships between the acoustic properties of distress calls and echolocation pulses and the infestation intensity of gamasid mites and bat flies in Chinese horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus sinicus) to determine whether acoustic signals potentially contain information about parasite infection. We found that bats infected with more gamasid mites uttered significantly shorter echolocation pulses, suggesting that echolocation pulses may contain information on the intensity of mite infection. Additionally, bats infected with more gamasid mites emitted distress calls with narrower bandwidth, while bats with more bat flies emitted calls with longer pause duration. These results suggest that distress calls may not only reflect a signaler’s parasite infection intensity but also may provide information concerning infection with specific parasites. In short, our findings suggest that acoustic signals of bats potentially reflect detailed information about parasite infection.

Vocal performance reflects individual quality in male Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats (Hipposideros armiger)

Signals containing parameter trade-offs are likely to be honest indicators of signaler quality because they are difficult to produce. Signals with a trill-rate/bandwidth trade-off have been described for many songbird species, one mouse, and one non-human primate species. However, there were no reports about whether there is a vocal performance trade-off in social calls of bats. This study investigated (1) a possible vocal performance trade-off in territorial calls of male Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats, Hipposideros armiger, recorded from 9 locations in south China, and (2) the relationships between vocal performance (vocal deviation and consistency) and caller's quality (body mass) to determine whether vocal performance honestly indicates a caller's quality. Vocal deviation measures the deviation of a call relative to an extreme call and vocal consistency measures the spectral consistency across a string of syllables. Our results showed a significant negative correlation between syllable repetition rate and frequency bandwidth, suggesting a vocal performance trade-off similar to the one in songbirds. Further, there was a significant negative relationship between body mass and vocal deviation, but no significant correlation between body mass and vocal consistency. This study provides the first empirical evidence for a vocal performance trade-off of social calls in bats, and the potential for the level of performance to indicate caller quality.