Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Siemers, Björn M.
• Kriner, Eva
• Kaipf, Ingrid
• Simon, Matthias
• Greif, Stefan

Titel

Bats eavesdrop on the sound of copulating flies

Ist Teil von

• Current biology, 2012-07, Vol.22 (14), p.R563-R564

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The idea that copulation might increase predation risk is a classic suggestion [1–3], but empirical evidence to support it is surprisingly scarce. While some early work found decreased vulnerability to predation during mating [2], two lab and one very recent field study documented increased predation during mating in freshwater amphipods [4], water striders [5] and locusts [6]. Decreased vigilance, less efficient escape responses, and increased conspicuousness of mating pairs have been suggested as mechanisms that might underpin elevated predation risk during copulation [2]. However, these putative mechanisms have never been investigated empirically. Here we describe a bat-insect system within which copulation greatly increases predation risk. We experimentally demonstrate that wild Natterer's bats (Myotis nattereri) ‘eavesdrop’ on acoustic cues emanating from copulating flies (Musca domestica) in a cowshed (Figure 1). With this evidence, we pinpoint increased conspicuousness as a relevant mechanism for elevated predation risk during mating.