Swarming of Myotis mystacinus and other bat species at high elevation in the Tatra Mountains, southern Poland ...

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) This paper reports a study of the visitation of bats to Great Litworowa Cave (1,907 m a.s.l., Tatra Mts., southern Poland) during summer and autumn 1999–2005. A total 5,608 bats representing 11 of Poland's 25 species were captured. Myotis mysta...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Piksa, Krzysztof
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Zenodo 2008
Subjects:
bat
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13519104
https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13519104
Description
Summary:(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) This paper reports a study of the visitation of bats to Great Litworowa Cave (1,907 m a.s.l., Tatra Mts., southern Poland) during summer and autumn 1999–2005. A total 5,608 bats representing 11 of Poland's 25 species were captured. Myotis mystacinus predominated. Its activity at all times was high. However, the species composition and number of other bats changed seasonally. Swarming activity lasted between July and November, peaking in late July and August. Nightly activity peaked between 22.00 and 02.00 hrs and then gradually decreased toward dawn. Strong male bias was observed. Myotis mystacinus showed regular changes in sex and age ratios. Rare species such as M. bechsteinii, M. emarginatus, and Vespertilio murinus were recorded. This cave is the highest locality of M. bechsteinii and M. brandtii in Europe. Some behavioural observations including copulation, drinking and daylight activity were recorded. The role of swarming activity is discussed in light ...