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'Lesser' Bandicoot Rat Bandicota Bengalensis (Gray)

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'Lesser' Bandicoot Rat Bandicota Bengalensis (Gray) FOOD HOARDING BY 'LESSER' BANDICOOT RAT BANDICOTA BENGALENSIS (GRAY) DISSERTATION SUBMITFED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTCR OF PHIIiOSOPHY TO THE ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, .•}•'•' ••'.«•.••••• J BY Mrs. Anjum Siddiqui M.Sc.(Alig) DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, r ALIGARH. November 1988 ;.Vit.J«U""^ • ICJ i^ to Go«it»ttt« ->•' -f'- K '•.•\.,iii't-\ .^•^'-"--"•^ Ki *~ilj •vsvf*' 2^; i^a j| 'i'^i^ .n Jl)LtS89 . V , ..1 - •!• DS1396 CHE c: -2002 :;:? .01- ^Univer-Universiti y : 285 DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY Phones : ) Public : 5646 ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY iRes. : 6579 ALIGAfiH, U. P. INDIA 202001 Mictions ; Ref. No.: •« ENTOMOLOGY 2 PARASITOLOGY 29.11.1988 3 ICHTHYOLOGY b FISHERIES Date. 4 AGRICULTURALNEMATOLOGY 5 GENET/CS This is to certify thtit tne preoent work entitled "Pood Hoaraing by 'Lesser' xjanaicoot Rat, Baridicota bengal en sis (Gray)" Wasdone unaer li.j oupervision. The v/ork is '^ri,_inal ana duVuiices in luy view Knov.ieafe about Inciari ro.;ent sy.-.ecies. ^iK, (JAlVilL AHIviAlr KHAN) i-roiessor oi ^ oology CONTENTS Page Nps ACK N 0 WL EDG EM EN T S KISTORICAL R ESUM E 2-4 INTRODUCTION MATERIAL AND METHODS 6-8 R ESULTS 9-lD DISCUSSION 11-13 SLT-IMARY 14 REFERENCES 15-19 TABLES I I ' » ! f e « » 20-23 FIGURES 24-25 •k * J^ -A :* * ***;?:- t •k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k ******* ***** *** * (1) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I arn grateful to Professor Jamil Ahmad Khan for supervising this vvork. I am thankful to Professor M.S. Jairajpuri, Chairman, Department of Zoology, for facilities. Acknowledgement is also made to Lab. colleagues and staff. (Anjum Siddiqui) ...2 (2) HISTORICAL RESUME The species of the genus Bandlcota are widely distributed in India and much of the south-eastern Asia (Spill et, 1968). Of the two species, the 'lesser' bandicoot rat is represented by five geographical forms or sub-species (Ellerman, 1961). The sub-species Bandicota bengal en sis bengal en sis (Gray) is common form found in North India. The lesser 'bandicoot' is typically a field or rural rat (Blonford, 1888-1891; Ellerman 1961, Prater 1965). However, glfice th« beginning of this century, it has successfully epleniaed urban areas in India (Spillet, 1968). This is not only true of larger metropolitan urban centres as Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi and Madras (Rao, 1947; Seal, i960 b; Deoras, 1960-1963); but also of smaller cities as Aligarh. 'fhig shows tiie magnitude of change that has oGGUfred in urban rat population of India. The lesser bandicoot rat is a highly fossorial rat (Kamath, 1961; Rao, 1965; Roy, 1974). Sut besides other behaviour pattern, it also shows great propensity ...3 (3) to 'hoard' food in its burrows (Kamath, 1961; Deoras, 1964; Hoy, 1974) . Thus its burrowing habits give it both added protection as well as provide it with re­ serve food supply (Spillat, 1968) . The lesser bandicoot rat is thus the most important agent of food destruction; and that is a matter of serious concern (Spillet, 1968). It is thus estim.ated that 25% of food grown' in. India is destroyed by rodent in the field and an additional 25-30% in storage (Warshof sky, 1967) . This amount is larger than the buffer stock maintained by the Indian Government. It is quite obvious that if the'bandicoot' is controlled, losses of food to rodents wOUld be drastically reduced. The f;o©d hoarding by lessor bandicoot is, however, not being extensively studied. To-date, the most important vork is of Parrack (ige?'). It demons­ trates that the lesser bandicoot rat eats less, damages ' more; er.d hoaJ^'Cls^ faybstsntially., The total food lost to them is perhaps much more than that caused by 'non- hoarders' dS 'reef rat, Rattiie r.|_g..tus, or 'hoarders' as gerbils Tat era Indica. (Kiomari and Khan, 1978). (4) The factors influencing food 'hoarding' behaviour of 'lesser' bandicoot rat, have also not been ainalysed. It is generally believed that it is a compulsive 'hoarder' and can even hoard many objects other than food. However, the facts are otherwise, as the present vx^rk shows. This work has been done in line with similar work done on many other rodent species that hoard food as squirrels, hamsters. Albino rat, mice and gerbils, (Smith and Koss, 1950; Rice and Terman, 197 2; KcCarty and Southwick, 1974; Rieh&rd, 1976, 1978; Tadlock and Klein, 1979j Kumafi ^d Khail, 1979; Begineux et. al., 1980; Etienne, et. al., 1983; Roderick, 1984). Cbviously, jtigre investigations on food hoarding behaviour of economically important rodent species in India are required (Barnett and Prahssh, 1975). But this vTork, it is hoped; SuFi serve as the basis for fur­ ther investigation. (5) INTRODUCTION Food crops are infested by a number of rodent pests; and exploited at all stages of growth (Barnett and Prakash, 1975). But harvest time is the season of plenty; when large amounts of grains are carried and 'stored' by them in their burrows (Prasad, 1954; Prater, 1965) . Of these pests, the lesser bandicoot rat, Bandicota bengal en sis (Gray), is the most important in many parts of India (Barn©tt and Prakash, 1975). Estimates of food 'hoarded' by B. bengal en sis, have been few, but wider in the sense that observations have elso been made in the field (Parrack, 1969; Roy, 1974), Hov/ever, more studies of it are obviously requir­ ed for use in |?©st-horvest technology, and protection of stored grains (Spillet, 1969; Barnett and Prakash, 1975). Accordingiy, 'hbatdihg' of food by adult B. bengal en sis of both sexes, was observed in laboratory en­ closures. The r^Sults °^^- '^l'B^^'\^tssed here. ... 6 (6) MATERIAL AND METHODS The bandicoots, B. bengal en sis, were trapped from Aligarh Railway Station. Traps baited with bread, were placed on tracks of main platform; v^ich was dug over most of its length. Traps were sprung within an hour at most of being set near what appeared to be the main 'entrances' to burrows; practically at all hours of the day. Trapped bandicoots were brought to the labora­ tory; sexed, weighed and housed in wire-mesh enclosures, 0.82 X 0.32 X 0,31m. Each enclosure had a layer of sand mixed with insecticide at the bottom. Paper was given for nesting. The bandicoots were maintained on a diet of bread and rat 'chow' and vegetables; water was given ad lib. Arrangements made inside the enclosures are shown in Fig, i. Experiments were started after acclimiatization of bandicoc3t.? to laboratory conditions, for at least 15 days. Subjects were divided into four groups; each group was given the following treatinent: ...7 (7) Group 1: All subjects were weighed, and given a surplus of wheat (Triticum aestivum) . Cages were checked daily for the next 15 days. Grains found in nest-boxes, were taken out and weighed. Group 2: After "weighing, bandicoots were starved for 3 days; and then weighed again. They were then given a surplus of wheat; amounts hoarded each day were recovered and weighed over the next 15 days. Group 3: Subjects were weighed and offered only brinjal (Sol angrn meloqena) for next 7 days. They were then weighed again, end given wheat in surplus arnQunts. Grains 'hoarded' were recovered and weighed daily for nfxt: 15 days. Group 4; Bandicoots were weighed, and given 20g of wheat fpr 3 days; and then lOg* 8g, 4g and finally 2g wheat also for 3 days each. Subjects were then v;eighed again and given surplus amounts of wheat. ^©unts QS. gfains hoarded by each sub­ ject was recorded daily as before. Observations wat-e e^fentinued f§? a§ lofig as the behaviour lasted. • . S (8) Results were statistically analysed according tx5 methods described by Bailey (1959) and Lehner (1979) . (9) RESULTS The results are summarised in Tables 1 to 4; and illustrated in Fig. 2. The bandicoots of group 1 hoarded food, but in small amounts (Table 1). One female proved, however, an exception. But differences on account of sex were not discernible (t = 1.405, df = 4. P^O.2). Hoarding also lasted for variable durations. Bandicoots of group 2 lost 10 to 12% of their body-weight due to starvation. But original body- weights were rapidly regained within 7 days of wheat becoming available. During the period of weight- recovery, ajid even afterwa:E'd5; all subjects hoarded food, but in smill amounts liXe the bandicoots of group 1 (Table 2) . Group 3 bandicoots als© lost weight (15-20%) o n restricted dist sf bfifljal. But it was also rapidly regained. All subjects then hoarded food. But it was hoarded in small amounts, as Jay bandicoots of group 1 & 2 (Table 3) . ... 10 (10) lost Group 4 bandicoots also/v/eight ^10% ) with gradual reduction of daily rations. The original weights were regained v;ithin 6 days of wheat becoming available again in surplus amounts. During the short period of weight recovery, and then over the next 59 to 9 2 days; all subjects hoarded wheat in very large amounts (Table 4). But one male carried it in excep­ tionally high amounts - 233g wheat was recovered from nest-box each day (Fig. 2). In case of all subjects, hoarding levels gradually increased to a 'peak' before declining. Afterwards, It stopped altogether. ...11 (11) DISCUSSION Several rodent species are found to 'hoard' food, both in natural as well as under laboratory con­ ditions (McCarty and Southwick, 1974; Barnett and Prakash, 1975). >^parently, females 'hoard'more than males (Niorgan et. al. 194 3; Dewsbury, 1970; Nyby et. al., 1973). Although a complex activity, food hoaird- ing is quickly released by varying degrees of food dep­ rivation (Morgan et. al., 194 3; Smith and Ross, 1950a; iMcKelvey and Marx, 1951; Nyby et.
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