Bat predation by spiders.
In this paper more than 50 incidences of bats being captured by spiders are reviewed. Bat-catching spiders have been reported from virtually every continent with the exception of Antarctica (≈ 90% of the incidences occurring in the warmer areas of the globe between latitude 30° N and 30° S). Most re...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a57b98425edf453ab5d9eb2bff85f513 2023-05-15T13:38:23+02:00 Bat predation by spiders. Martin Nyffeler Mirjam Knörnschild 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058120 https://doaj.org/article/a57b98425edf453ab5d9eb2bff85f513 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3596325?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058120 https://doaj.org/article/a57b98425edf453ab5d9eb2bff85f513 PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 3, p e58120 (2013) Medicine R Science Q article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058120 2022-12-31T03:54:07Z In this paper more than 50 incidences of bats being captured by spiders are reviewed. Bat-catching spiders have been reported from virtually every continent with the exception of Antarctica (≈ 90% of the incidences occurring in the warmer areas of the globe between latitude 30° N and 30° S). Most reports refer to the Neotropics (42% of observed incidences), Asia (28.8%), and Australia-Papua New Guinea (13.5%). Bat-catching spiders belong to the mygalomorph family Theraphosidae and the araneomorph families Nephilidae, Araneidae, and Sparassidae. In addition to this, an attack attempt by a large araneomorph hunting spider of the family Pisauridae on an immature bat was witnessed. Eighty-eight percent of the reported incidences of bat catches were attributable to web-building spiders and 12% to hunting spiders. Large tropical orb-weavers of the genera Nephila and Eriophora in particular have been observed catching bats in their huge, strong orb-webs (of up to 1.5 m diameter). The majority of identifiable captured bats were small aerial insectivorous bats, belonging to the families Vespertilionidae (64%) and Emballonuridae (22%) and usually being among the most common bat species in their respective geographic area. While in some instances bats entangled in spider webs may have died of exhaustion, starvation, dehydration, and/or hyperthermia (i.e., non-predation death), there were numerous other instances where spiders were seen actively attacking, killing, and eating the captured bats (i.e., predation). This evidence suggests that spider predation on flying vertebrates is more widespread than previously assumed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 8 3 e58120 |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Martin Nyffeler Mirjam Knörnschild Bat predation by spiders. |
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Medicine R Science Q |
description |
In this paper more than 50 incidences of bats being captured by spiders are reviewed. Bat-catching spiders have been reported from virtually every continent with the exception of Antarctica (≈ 90% of the incidences occurring in the warmer areas of the globe between latitude 30° N and 30° S). Most reports refer to the Neotropics (42% of observed incidences), Asia (28.8%), and Australia-Papua New Guinea (13.5%). Bat-catching spiders belong to the mygalomorph family Theraphosidae and the araneomorph families Nephilidae, Araneidae, and Sparassidae. In addition to this, an attack attempt by a large araneomorph hunting spider of the family Pisauridae on an immature bat was witnessed. Eighty-eight percent of the reported incidences of bat catches were attributable to web-building spiders and 12% to hunting spiders. Large tropical orb-weavers of the genera Nephila and Eriophora in particular have been observed catching bats in their huge, strong orb-webs (of up to 1.5 m diameter). The majority of identifiable captured bats were small aerial insectivorous bats, belonging to the families Vespertilionidae (64%) and Emballonuridae (22%) and usually being among the most common bat species in their respective geographic area. While in some instances bats entangled in spider webs may have died of exhaustion, starvation, dehydration, and/or hyperthermia (i.e., non-predation death), there were numerous other instances where spiders were seen actively attacking, killing, and eating the captured bats (i.e., predation). This evidence suggests that spider predation on flying vertebrates is more widespread than previously assumed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Martin Nyffeler Mirjam Knörnschild |
author_facet |
Martin Nyffeler Mirjam Knörnschild |
author_sort |
Martin Nyffeler |
title |
Bat predation by spiders. |
title_short |
Bat predation by spiders. |
title_full |
Bat predation by spiders. |
title_fullStr |
Bat predation by spiders. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bat predation by spiders. |
title_sort |
bat predation by spiders. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058120 https://doaj.org/article/a57b98425edf453ab5d9eb2bff85f513 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 3, p e58120 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3596325?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058120 https://doaj.org/article/a57b98425edf453ab5d9eb2bff85f513 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058120 |
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PLoS ONE |
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8 |
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