Guild Structure of Surface‐Gleaning Bats in Panama

Abstract

Food habits data from a complex guild of surface—gleaning. Neotropical bats over an annual cycle show that prominent consumption of beetles is the feature common to all species. Other insect orders, arachnids, vertebrates, and fruits are minor dietary components of various subsets of the guild. Multivariate analyses confirm the unity of the guild and show that at least five types of food constitute important niche dimensions for guild members. A consistent but not ubiquitous pattern of interspecific differences in size of the dentary apparatus indicates that food item size may be another important niche dimension. These results, added to previously documented differences in vertical and horizontal microhabitat use, invoke at least eight niche axes to differentiate these gleaning omnivores.