Sex and Age Variation in the Phenology of a Common Pipistrelle Bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) Population in Front of a Hibernaculum ...

• Main Authors: Giavi, Simone, Glaizot, Olivier, Christe, Philippe
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2020
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Pipistrellus pipistrellus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13457917; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13457917

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) The annual life cycle of temperate bats is typically accompanied by seasonal movements. In autumn, individuals of several species display very active flying behaviour around preferred locations, often hibernacula, a behaviour called swarming. This behaviour is usually characterized by a strong male-biased sex ratio and is often considered to be related to mating. Alternatively, these groupings may be a social behaviour related to the location and quality assessment of hibernacula and may enable this information to be transferred to juveniles, the maternal guidance hypothesis. Our study reports the results of a weekly survey of a bat community in an abandoned mine in Switzerland from April to October 2009, a period longer than the swarming period. The site is characterized by numerous visiting species as well as a high number of common pipistrelle bats displaying autumnal swarming like behaviour at the entrance of the mines. Thirteen species were present at ...