• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.168-176
• /
• 2023

Background: Many insectivorous bats have flexible diets, and the difference in prey item consumption among species is one of the key mechanisms that allows for the avoidance of interspecies competition and promotes coexistence within a microhabitat. In Korea, of the 24 bat species that are known to be distributed, eight insectivorous bats use forest areas as both roosting and foraging sites. Here, we aimed to understand the resource partitioning and coexistence strategies between two bat species, Myotis ikonnikovi and Plecotus ognevi, cohabiting the Mt. Jumbong forests, by comparing the differences in dietary consumption based on habitat utilization. Results: Upon examining their dietary composition using the DNA meta-barcoding approach, we identified 403 prey items (amplicon sequence variants). A greater prey diversity including Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, and Ephemeroptera, was detected from M. ikonnikovi, whereas most prey items identified from P. ognevi belonged to Lepidoptera. The diversity index of prey items was higher for M. ikonnikovi (H': 5.67, D: 0.995) than that for P. ognevi (H': 4.31, D: 0.985). Pianka's index value was 0.207, indicating little overlap in the dietary composition of these bat species. Our results suggest that M. ikonnikovi has a wider diet composition than P. ognevi. Conclusions: Based on the dietary analysis results, our results suggests the possibility of differences in foraging site preferences or microhabitat utilization between two bat species cohabiting the Mt. Jumbong. In addition, these differences may represent one of the important mechanism in reducing interspecific competition and enabling coexistence between the two bat species. We expected that our results will be valuable for understanding resource partitioning and the coexistence of bats inhabiting the Korean forests.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.261-266
• /
• 2015

We have analyzed the external morphology and the environment of the foraging site of Vespertilio sinensis. The external morphology was analyzed by twelve parameters and the environment characteristics of the foraging site was analyzed using GIS 10.1 program. The wing membrane was inserted into the ankle of the hind foot and the wing ratio was 1.42, the middle type between broad-short wing type and long-narrow wing type. The fur color was blackish brown but the guard hair color was whitish. The shape of the ear was a rounded triangle and tragus was a fan shape. This study showed that V. sinensis preferred the deciduous forest of the upper forest zone, where human interference was less. We believed that abundance of insects, depending on water system, was closely related to the use of the foraging site. This result showed that the environment characteristics was very similar to the nature preservation zone including Baekyang valley and Keumsun valley in Naejangsan National Park.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 1999

The aim of the present study was to investigate with transmission electron misroscope the comparative morphology of epididymal spermatozoa in two species of the Korean insectivorous bats belonging to 'prolonged sperm storage' type (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum korai) and 'delayed implantation' type (Miniopterus schreibersi fuliginosus). Sperm head of the R. ferrumequinum korai was bullet shaped and that of M. schreibersi fuliginosus was spatula shaped. The nuclei of the sperm head of the R. ferrumequinum korai and M. schreibersi fuliginosus occupied two-third and a half of it, respectively. The segmented columns of R. ferrumequinum korai were about 12 to 14 in number, and those of the M. schreibersi fuligincsus were about 10 to 12. Particularly, a pile of the satellite fibers in middle piece of R. ferrumequinum korai remained the inner aspect of the outer dense fibers, but those of the M. schreibersi fuliginosus were not.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.368-373
• /
• 2015

Faecal analysis was carried out to identify the diet composition of Eptesicus serotinus after collecting the faeces from 25 female bats. Five bats were captured at a bridge where a colony of E. serotinous was found in Andong city, Gyeongbuk, every month from May to September 2014. A total of 100 faeces were collected and the parts of insects obtained from the faeces were examined using a high-resolution microscope (50 ${\times}$ binocular microscope) and then the orders of the insects were identified by the characteristics of the parts of the insect (mouthpart, leg, wing, antenna, elytra, etc.). According to the results of the faecal analysis, 4 orders: Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera and Hemiptera were used as food resource of E. serotinus. Coleoptera was found in May, July, August, and September. Interestingly, only Coleoptera were found in May and July. Hemiptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera were found to be used as food resources in September, June, and August.