Carlos Eduardo Lustosa Esbérard

Influência do ciclo lunar na captura de morcegos Phyllostomidae

The influence of moonlight on the activity patterns of bats has been reported to some species. In general, bats react to the increase of nocturnal illumination by reducing the use of open spaces, by limiting foraging activity or by shortening the activity periods. To determine the influence of moon cycle on the efficiency of bat netting, captures of 28 night-samplings were analyzed in southeastern Brazil. The capture rate and species richness were inversely related to the moonlight intensity. Among the most frequently netted species, only two showed significant and negative relation with increasing moonlight. The highest variation in species richness was observed in gleaners and nectarivorous species. The days following new moon were the most productive in terms of capture rate and species richness. The local species richness was not archived when sampling was restricted to any single period of the moon cycle. Bat community studies may benefit from samplings spanning the entire moon cycle.

Capture sequence and relative abundance of bats during surveys

It is expected that rare species will be gradually added to biodiversity surveys over time and that complete inventories will include rare species. The objective in the present work is to test whether the capture sequence of species during a bat survey is related to species abundance. Species with capture rates lower than 0.01x10-3 captures/hour-net were considered rare. At Ilha da Gipoia, rare species accounted for 22.22% of the total and, at Rio das Pedras Reserve, they represented 30.00%. The existence of a negative relationship between the relative abundance and the first night of capture of each species for the Ilha da Gipoia and the high significance level for the accumulation curve at both localities suggest that the documentation of a large number of rare species depends on a sustained capture effort. The common species were captured at the beginning of the field work and the remaining species were typically added to the collection according to their approximate relative abundance. However, rare or seldomly captured species were added at random.

Deslocamento de Artibeus lituratus (Olfers, 1818) (Mammalia, Chiroptera) entre ilha e continente no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

One individual of Artibeus lituratus, marked with a colored and numbered plastic color necklace was recaptured on July 18 th , 2007 at the Parque Natural Municipal da Serra do Mendanha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 96 days after being captured and marked at Itacuruca Island, located on southern Rio de Janeiro State. The linear distance between the plots of marking and recapture suggests a minimum movement of 35 km, being 500 m oversea.

Serpentes predando morcegos: novos registros no Brasil e uma revisão dos casos registrados na Região Neotropical

Predation on bats by snakes is relatively infrequently reported in the literature, though it may actually not be an uncommon phenomenon, since bat colonies represent a potential concentration of food for many medium-sized or large snakes. Herein we describe four events of bat predation by snakes and present a review of predation records of snakes on bats in the Neotropics compiled from the literature. A total of 20 species of snakes have been recorded so far as predators of bats in the New World tropics, with boiids being represented by the greatest number of cases. Due to the semi-arboreal habits of most of its species, their large size and their usual preference for mammalian prey, the Boiidae are probably the main reptilian predators of bats in the Neotropics, though predation by colubrids may also be relatively frequent. Two types of predatory events can be pointed out: (1) on active bats outside refuges or exiting them, and (2) on animals (active or inactive) inside refuges. The former strategy is apparently used mainly by boiids, whereas the latter strategy appears to be the one most used by large colubrids.

Vírus rábico em morcego Nyctinomops laticaudatus na Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, RJ: isolamento, titulação e epidemiologia

The first case report of rabies in bats of the species Nyctinomops laticaudatus, in the city of Rio de Janeiro City, is presented. Virus isolation and titration were performed in different tissues, and high titers were found in the brain and salivary glands. Rabies occurrence in such an infrequent species in this state suggests that the disease may be more prevalent than it appears to be.

Assessing host specificity of obligate ectoparasites in the absence of dispersal barriers

Host specificity is a characteristic property of parasite-host associations and often is high among those involving obligate or permanent parasites. While many parasites are highly host-specific under natural conditions, specificity may break down in the absence of dispersal barriers. We tested the host specificity of obligate and permanent blood-feeding bat parasites (Hemiptera: Polyctenidae) under experimental conditions where parasite dispersal barriers had been removed. Under these conditions, parasites not only readily accepted a secondary host species but also remained there when a primary host was immediately available. Experiments with bat bugs and observations of streblid bat flies suggest that specificity may at least temporarily break down when dispersal barriers are removed. To affect long-term coevolutionary patterns, such transfers would necessarily entail the establishment of viable parasite populations on secondary host species.

Influência do esforço amostral na riqueza de espécies de morcegos no sudeste do Brasil

E dificil comparar os resultados obtidos em inventarios de morcegos, pois os esforcos de coleta empregados diferem grandemente, e ha obviamente influencia nos resultados. O objetivo deste trabalho e comparar tres inventarios de morcegos realizados em ambientes similares no sudeste do Brasil e comparar o esforco de coleta empregado para aferir a riqueza de especies de morcegos. Duas metodologias e tres diferentes esforcos de coleta foram usados: I) coleta com redes de neblina por toda a noite; II) coleta com redes por ate seis horas a cada noite e III) coleta com redes armadas por 12 horas por uma ou duas noites em cada local, combinada com a busca ativa por refugios. Nos comparamos as metodologias e os tres esforcos de coleta usando tres unidades distintas: noites de coleta, horas de coletas e numero de capturas. As curvas de acumulacao de especies obtidas demonstraram que a adicao de novas especies mostra-se mais acelerada na combinacao de coletas por 12 h por noite e busca ativa de refugios. O numero estimado de especies pelo estimador de Chao variou de 25,5 a 38 especies, correspondendo de 3,12 a nove especies a mais para cada inventario. O total amostrado pelas tres metodologias atingiu 92% das especies registradas para o sul do estado do Rio de Janeiro e para cada inventario variou de 53,9 a 74,4% do total regional.

Composição de colônia e reprodução de Molossus rufus (E. Geoffroy) (Chiroptera, Molossidae) em um refúgio no sudeste do Brasil

In this study carried out in the Biological Reserve of Poco das Antas, Rio de Janeiro state, southeastern Brazil, a roost of Molossus rufus (E. Geoffroy, 1805) was sampled one night per month, from November 2000 to October, 2001. The colonies in this species can exceed more than five hundreds, being present both sexes. The total number of animals captured was higher in the spring and declined in the autumn and winter. Between April to July the proportion of males overcome the females, while in other months the females prevailed. Molossus rufus have seasonal reproduction. Females arrived by July and the number increases until November. Few animals remained in this roost during colder months. Such fact suggests that females and great part of the males leave this roof after the end of the reproduction. Pregnant females were captured between September, October, November and February. Lactating females were observed in August, October, November, December and February. Active males were observed in all months, being overcome by males with abdominal testes only in July.

Mammals, Serra da Concórdia, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Atlantic Forest in the state of Rio de Janeiro is extremely fragmented and reduced in its original extension. Although there are a great number of studies related to the biome, few lists are available for this region. The present study seeks to get information on the mammals of a remnant forest in Serra da Concordia, an area from which no information is currently available. The rapid mammals survey was accomplished by use of pitfalls, live traps, transects, mist nets, and camera traps. We recorded 37 terrestrial species that represent 22.3 % of Rio de Janeiro state mammal species. Among the recorded species, six are endemic of the Atlantic Forest, one is endemic of the state, and eight are in the state list of threatened or presumably threatened species. The area presents great mammal richness and an increasing effort will probably reveal the presence of additional species.

Infestation of Rhynchopsyllus pulex (Siphonaptera: Tungidae) on Molossus molossus (Chiroptera) in Southestern Brazil

The infestation of Rhynchopsyllus pulex on the bat Molossus molossus was observed using mist-nets opened between constructions in the Primatological Center, in Guapimirim, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.