Dietary composition, echolocation pulses and morphological measurements of the long-fingered bat Miniopterus fuliginosus (Chiroptera: Vespertilioninae)

We investigated food (insect) availability in foraging areas utilized by the long-fingered bat Miniopterus fuliginosus using light traps, fish netting and fecal analysis. The dominant preys of M. fuliginosus were Lepidoptera (55%, by volume percent) and Coleoptera (38%) of a relatively large body size. M. fuliginosus has relatively long, narrow wings and a wing span of 6.58 ± 0.12 and high wing loading of 9.85 ± 0.83 N/m2. The echolocation calls of free flying M. fuliginosus were FM signals, with a pulse duration of 1.45 ± 0.06 ms, interpulse interval of 63.08 ± 21.55 ms, and low dominant frequency of 44.50 ± 2.26 kHz. This study shows that the morphological characteristics and echolocation calls of long-fingered bats are closely linked to their predatory behavior.