Common big-eared bat (Micronycteris microtis) approaching a katydid resting on a leaf. Credit: Inga Geipel, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Co-author Inga Geipel, a research associate at STRI, ...

(Beyond Pesticides, February 19, 2025) In Global Ecology and Conservation, a study of bat species in organic desert date palm plantations highlights the invaluable ecosystem services these beneficial ...

Many bat species emit echolocation calls and use the returning echoes to find their way, detect the presence of fluttering insects, and locate and catch them. A new study investigated this behavior in ...

Social hunting strategies are already well documented in many animal species when prey is distributed in an unpredictable way across the landscape. In a new research paper, Manuel Roeleke and his team ...

Bats are an evolutionary success story. With approximately 1,400 species living today, they thrive in every environment except the polar regions. They come in a remarkable range of sizes, from the ...

(Beyond Pesticides, September 29, 2021) Bats foraging in chemical-intensive banana plantations have much less gut diversity than bats foraging in organic banana fields and natural forestland, finds ...

Bats depend on open bodies of water such as small ponds and lakes for foraging and drinking. Access to water is particularly important for survival in the increasingly hot and dry summers caused by ...

Searching for food at night can be tricky. To find prey in the dark, bats use echolocation, their “sixth sense.” But to find food faster, some species, like Molossus molossus, may search within ...

Common big-eared bat (Micronycteris microtis) eating a freshly-caught dragonfly. Co-author Inga Geipel, a research associate at STRI, previously suggested that M. microtis detects silent prey by ...

Social hunting strategies are already well documented in many animal species when prey is distributed in an unpredictable way across the landscape. Researchers have now demonstrated for the first time ...