Abstract
A lunar phobia is a behavioral trait in which the individual alters or ceases its nocturnal activity during periods of strong lunar illumination found throughout the animal kingdom. Current evidence indicates the changes reflect predator/prey detectability due to increased visibility. The study hypothesizes whether bat activity is more negatively influenced by a discrete threshold of high lunar illumination (nights with ≥ 90% of moon exposure) rather than a continuous linear response to variation in moon exposure. A 1202 mist net bat captures dataset from a preserved area in Northeast Brazil was used to test this hypothesis. A stepwise model was built, using Bayesian information criterion, to determine the effect of lunar luminosity (either as continuous moon exposure or discrete threshold parameter), environment (open vegetation vs canopy-covered), and season (dry/wet). The final model selected showed a significant negative threshold effect of nights above 90% of moon luminosity compared to a weaker non-significant effect of continuous moon exposure variation. The selected model also found a positive effect of forested environments and the wet season in the total number of bat captures. The model was able to detect a significant decrease in captures for the most abundant species, Artibeus planirostris. Our findings support the hypothesis that bats (especially frugivorous) present lunar phobia, which respond in a negative nonlinear fashion to high luminosity, possibly to avoid predation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aguirre LF, Herrel A, Van Damme R, Matthysen E (2003) The implications of food hardness for diet in bats. Funct Ecol 17:201–212. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2435.2003.00721.x
Altringham JD (2011) Bats: From Evolution to Conservation, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York
Anthony ELP, Stack MH, Kunz TH (1981) Night roosting and the nocturnal time budget of the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus: effects of reproductive status, prey density, and environmental conditions. Oecologia 51:151–156
Börk KS (2006) Lunar phobia in the greater fishing bat Noctilio leporinus (Chiroptera: Noctilionidae). Rev Biol Trop 54:1117–1123. https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v54i4.3087
Bosco-Breviglieri CP (2011) Influência do dossel na atividade de morcegos (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) em três fragmentos no estado de São Paulo. Chiropt Neotrop 17:817–825. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004
Ciechanowski M, Zając T, Biłas A, Dunajski R (2007) Spatiotemporal variation in activity of bat species differing in hunting tactics: effects of weather, moonlight, food abundance, and structural clutter. Can J Zool 85:1249–1263. https://doi.org/10.1139/Z08-025
Crespo RF, Linhart SB, Burns RJ, Mitchell GC (1972) Foraging behavior of the common vampire bat related to moonlight. J Mammal 53:366–368. https://doi.org/10.2307/1379175
Esbérard CEL (2007) Influência do ciclo lunar na captura de morcegos Phyllostomidae. Iheringia Série Zool 97:81–85. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0073-47212007000100012
Fox J, Bouchet-Valat M (2017) Rcmdr: R Commander
Gannon MR, Willig MR (1997) The effect of lunar ilumination on movement and activity of the red fig-eating bat (Stenoderma rufum). Biotropica 24:525–529
Gunn P, Gunn B (2012) Lunar effects on the bioluminescent activity of the glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca and its larvae. Lampyrid 3:1–16
Horký P, Slavík O, Bartoš L et al (2006) The effect of the moon phase and seasonality on the behaviour of pikeperch in the Elbe River. Folia Zool 55:411–417
Keitt BS, Tershy BR, Croll DA (2005) Nocturnal behavior reduces predation pressure on black-vented shearwaters Puffinus opisthomelas. Mar Ornithol 178:173–178
Mello M a R, Kalko EKV, Silva WR (2013) Effects of moonlight on the capturability of frugivorous phyllostomid bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) at different time scales. Zoologia 30:397–402. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1984-46702013000400005
Morrison DW (1978) Lunar phobia in a neotropical fruit bat, Artibeus jamaicensis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Anim Behav 26:852–855. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-3472(78)90151-3
Negraeff OE, Brigham RM (1995) The influence of moonlight on the activity of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus). Int J Mamm Biol 60:330–336
R Core Team (2017) R: A language and environment for statistical computing
Reis NR, Peracchi AL, Pedro WA, Lima IP (2007) Morcegos do Brasil. Nelio Roberto dos Reis, Londrina
Simmons NB, Voss RS (1998) The mammals of Paracou, French Guiana, a Neotropical lowland rainforest fauna. Part 1, Bats. Bull Am Museum Nat Hist 237:1–219
Skutelsky O (1996) Predation risk and state-dependent foraging in scorpions: effects of moonlight on foraging in the scorpion Buthus occitanus. Anim Behav 52:49–57
Walker J (1999) Montool
Zeppelini CG, Jerônimo I, Morgana K et al (2016) Bat assemblage of Guaribas Biological Reserve, an Atlantic forest conservation unit in Northeastern Brazil: results of a two-stage long-term survey. Acta Sci Biol Sci 38:365–369. https://doi.org/10.4025/actascibiolsci.v38i3.31248
Zeppelini CG, Jerônimo I, Rego KMC, Fracasso MP, Lopez LCS (2017) Description of whole-night activity patterns for Neotropical bat species. Acta Chiropterologica 19:155–160. https://doi.org/10.3161/15081109ACC2017.19.1.012
Acknowledgments
We would like to extend our gratitude to the staff of the Guaribas Biological Reserve for all support and knowledge shared during the field data collection. A personal thank you to Whitney Howell, MSc, for proofing the final manuscript and offering invaluable input on the writing and structure of the text. CGZ’s work is supported by a doctorate scholarship granted by FAPESB.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
CGZ performed the original fieldwork, built the conceptual framework of the paper, and wrote the manuscript. LMMA performed the statistical analysis, guided data interpretation, and contributed to the manuscript. LCSL mentored and curated the original fieldwork, participated in the statistical analysis, and contributed to the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Ethics statement
This research paper used data already partially published (see: (Zeppelini et al. 2016, 2017)). The original sampling was approved and performed under license SISBIO 25891-3 (Ministério do Meio Ambiente).
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zeppelini, C.G., Azeredo, L.M.M. & Lopez, L.C.S. Bats like dimmer lights: lunar phobia as a luminosity threshold phenomenon on Neotropical bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera). acta ethol 22, 125–128 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-019-00314-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-019-00314-w