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First Record of Predation on Greater Sac-Winged Bat, Saccopteryx Bilineata

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First Record of Predation on Greater Sac-Winged Bat, Saccopteryx Bilineata Herpetology Notes, volume 12: 815-817 (2019) (published online on 04 August 2019) First record of predation on Greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae), by the Colombian rainbow boa, Epicrates maurus (Serpentes: Boidae) Carlos A. Aya-Cuero1,2,*, Carlos H. Cáceres-Martínez3, and Diego A. Esquivel1,4 Predator-prey interactions have been well documented The Colombian rainbow boa, Epicrates maurus, is a in many animals, including well-known relationships in medium-sized Neotropical boid snake reaching up to which bats are the predators. These flying mammals, 1.5 m of snout-vent length (SVL) (Lourdais et al., 2006). in turn, are preyed upon by a wide variety of animals, It inhabits Neotropical savannahs and dry forests in ranging from giant spiders, centipedes, fishes, southern Central and northern South Americas (Passos amphibians, reptiles, and birds, to other mammals and Fernández, 2008). There is virtually no available (Molinari, 2005; Lima and O’Keefe, 2013; Nyffeler data on the feeding behaviour of E. maurus (Pizzatto et and Knörnschild, 2013). According to Schätti (1984), al., 2009); nevertheless, snakes of the genus Epicrates chiropterophagy is presumably a globally common are reported to be dietary generalists, preying on both phenomenon in some populations of giant snakes and endothermic and ectothermic animals, particularly large climbing colubrid species. In the Neotropical lizards, birds, and small- to medium-sized mammals region, 40 cases of predation on bats by snakes were (Henderson et al., 1987). reported between the years 1951 and 2005, involving On November 12th, 2018 we observed a predatory 20 species of snakes and 18 identified bat species event during fieldwork in the Caribbean forest at Finca (Esbérard and Vrcibradic, 2007), among which only La Playa located on the right margin of the Tapias river in two cases were recorded in Colombia. The first northern Colombia (11.1397°N, 73.0439°W; elevation: involves Boa constrictor and Artibeus jamaicensis from 161 m). This private property is predominantly covered Providencia Island (Thomas, 1974), while the second by a mosaic of tropical forest, crops, and pastures, and relates to Epicrates cenchria and Carollia perspicillata is part of the Vereda El Naranjal in the municipality from the department of Huila (Lemke, 1978). Herein, of Riohacha, department of La Guajira. At 7:49 A.M., we describe a new case of predator-prey interaction while directly observing a colony of greater sac-winged between the Colombian rainbow boa, Epicrates maurus bats (Fig. 1A), we noticed an adult Colombian rainbow Gray, 1849, and the greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx boa of about one meter long (identified by its brownish bilineata (Temminck, 1838), from Colombia. uniform dorsal ground colour, indistinct lateral ocelli, and the presence of a lateral stripe) slowly approaching a group of three bat individuals that were roosting in a hollow of an Anacardium tree at approximately three meters above the ground (Fig. 1B; 1C). During the 1 Fundación Kurupira, Diagonal 16B No. 106-65 Int. 5 Apt. 102, time we were observing, the snake was able to ambush, Bogotá D.C., Colombia. capture, constrict, and ingest one of the bats (Fig. 1D). 2 Fundación Omacha, Calle 84 No. 21-64, Bogotá D.C., To the best of our knowledge, this observation Colombia. represents the first published record of a predator- 3 Grupo de Investigación en Ecología y Conservación de Fauna prey interaction involving either Epicrates maurus or Silvestre. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Medellín. Saccopteryx bilineata, as well as the third case of snake Calle 59ª No. 63-20, Medellín, Colombia. predation on bats in Colombia. Moreover, it is important 4 Bird and Mammal Evolution, Systematics and Ecology Lab, Bioscience Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande to emphasize the fact that, although many documented do Sul. Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500 – Campus do Vale, Porto instances of bat predation refer to Epicrates snakes Alegre-RS, Brazil. in the Neotropical region (Esbérard and Vrcibradic, * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] 2007), all the available published records involving 816 Carlos A. Aya-Cuero et al. Figure 1. Predation on a greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata, by a Colombian rainbow boa, Epicrates maurus. (A) Prey (Saccopteryx bilineata); (B) predator (Epicrates maurus); (C) predator approaching the prey; (D) predator successfully capturing the prey and constricting it. Photographs by Carlos A. Aya-Cuero. this genus (i.e., Hardy, 1957; Lemke, 1978; Rodriguez References and Reagan, 1984; Rodríguez-Durán, 1996; Prior and Costa, L.M., Tabosa, L.O., Luz, J.L., Carvalho, W.D. (2016): Gibson, 1997; Vareschi and Janetzky, 1998; Koenig and Predadores naturais de morcegos no Brasil. Boletim da Schwartz, 2003; Dávalos and Eriksson, 2004; Puente- Sociedade Brasileira de Mastozoologia 77: 131–142. Rolón and Bird-Picó, 2004; Donato et al., 2012; Costa Davalos, L.M., Eriksson, R. (2004): Natural History Notes: et al., 2016; Martin-Solano et al., 2016), indicated that Epicrates subflavus (Jamaican boa) - Foraging behavior. the observed predatory events occurred in or at the Herpetological Review 35(1): 66. entrance of caves. This would therefore imply that our Donato, C.R., Dantas, M.A.T., Da Rocha, P.A. (2012): Natural observation constitutes the first record of an Epicrates History Notes: Epicrates cenchria (Rainbow boa) - Diet and foraging behavior. Herpetological Review 43(2): 343–344. snake preying on bats in a tree hollow; however, it is Esbérard, C.E.L., Vrcibradic, D. (2007): Snakes preying on bats: noteworthy that this feeding behaviour have been new records from Brazil and a review of recorded cases in the already reported for the common boa, Boa constrictor Neotropical region. Revista Brasileira de Zoología 24(3): 848– (Esbérard and Vrcibradic, 2007). 853. Hardy, J.D. (1957): Bat predation by the Cuban boa, Epicrates Acknowledgements. We thank the Unión Temporal C. & A. angulifer Bibron. Copeia 1957(2): 151–152. Fauna Guajira y CORPOGUAJIRA for economic and logistical Henderson, R.W., Noeske-Hallin, T.A., Ottenwalder, J.A., support under research agreement No. 0082 of 2018. We thank Schwartz, A. (1987): On the diet of the boa Epicrates striatus R.C. Van Horn for assistance with text revision. Thanks as well to on Hispaniola, with notes on E. fordi and E. gracilis. Amphibia- L. Mendoza for guidance and accompaniment in the field and to Reptilia 8(3): 251-258. Y. Sierra, the owner of the farm where the event was observed. Koenig, S.E., Schwartz, M. (2003): Natural History Notes: Epicrates First record of predation on Greater sac-winged bat by the Colombian rainbow boa 817 subflavus (Jamaican yellow boa) - Diet. Herpetological Review Prior, K.A., Gibson, R.C. (1997): Observations on the 34(4): 374–375. foraging behavior of the Jamaican boa, Epicrates subflavus. Lemke, T.O. (1978): Predation upon bats by Epicrates cenchris Herpetological Review 28(2): 72–73. cenchris in Colombia. Herpetological Review 9(2): 47. Puente-Rolón, A.R., Bird-Picó, F.J. (2004): Foraging behavior, Lima, S.L., O`Keefe, J.M. (2013): Do predators influence the home range, movements and activity patterns of Epicrates behaviour of bats? Biological Reviews 88(3): 626–644. inornatus (Boidae) at Mata de Plátano Reserve in Arecibo, Lourdais, O., Shine, R., Bonnet, X., Brischoux, F. (2006): Sex Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 40(3): 343–352. differences in body composition, performance and behaviour Rodriguez, G.A., Reagan, D.P. (1984): Bat predation by the Puerto in the Colombian rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria maurus, Rican boa, Epicrates inornatus. Copeia 1984(1): 219–220. Boidae). Journal of Zoology 269(2): 175–182. Rodríguez-Durán, A. (1996): Foraging ecology of the Puerto Rican Martin-Solanot, S., Toulkeridis, T., Addison, A., Pozo-Rivera, boa (Epicrates inornatus): bat predation, carrion feeding, and W.E. (2016): Predation of Desmodus rotundus Geoffroy, 1810 piracy. Journal of Herpetology 30(4): 533–536. (Phyllostomidae, Chiroptera) by Epicrates cenchria (Linnaeus, Schätti, B. (1984): Fledermäuse als Nahrung von Schlangen. 1758) (Boidae, Reptilia) in an Ecuadorian cave. Subterranean Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 35(4): 335–342. Biology 19: 41–50. Thomas, M.E. (1974): Bats as a food source for Boa constrictor. Molinari, J., Gutiérrez, E.E., De Ascenção, A.A., Nassar, J.M., Journal of Herpetology 8(2): 188. Arends, A., Márquez, R.J. (2005): Predation by giant centipedes, Vareschi, E., Janetzky, W. (1998): Bat predation by the yellow Scolopendra gigantea, on three species of bats in a Venezuelan snake or Jamaican boa, Epicrates subflavus. Jamaica Naturalist cave. Caribbean Journal of Science 41(2): 340 –346. 5: 34–36. Nyffeler, M., Knörnschild, M. (2013): Bat predation by spiders. PloS ONE 8(3): e58120. Passos, P., Fernandes, R. (2008): Revision of the Epicrates cenchria complex (Serpentes: Boidae). Herpetological Monographs 22(1): 1–30. Pizzatto, L., Marques, O.A.V., Facure, K. (2009): Food habits of Brazilian boid snakes: overview and new data, with special reference to Corallus hortulanus. Amphibia-Reptilia 30(4): 533–544. Accepted by Idriss Bouam.
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