Fishing spiders (Pisauridae) have been reported capturing and devouring fish and frogs –. The observation of bat-catching by spiders is not that peculiar if we consider the fact that a number of larger-sized spiders are known to supplement their arthropod diet by occasionally preying on vertebrates. In several technical books on chiropterology, accidental deaths of bats in spider webs have been reported, –. Furthermore, cockroaches have been seen feeding on bat pups which have fallen to the floor –. Despite their name, whip spiders do not belong to the order “spiders” (Araneae) instead they belong to the Amblypygi which is a separate arachnid order. Whip spiders (Phrynidae) were observed feeding on dead phyllostomid bats in caves of the Caribbean, but it is not known whether this were cases of predation or scavenging ( B. ![]() In a cave in Venezuela, giant centipedes (Scolopendridae) have been observed killing and eating mormoopid and phyllostomid bats. Predation by a few large arthropods is occasionally documented in the literature as well –. The most prominent bat enemies mentioned in the scientific literature are owls, hawks, and snakes –. This evidence suggests that spider predation on flying vertebrates is more widespread than previously assumed.īats have few natural enemies. While in some instances bats entangled in spider webs may have died of exhaustion, starvation, dehydration, and/or hyperthermia (i.e., non-predation death), there were numerous other instances where spiders were seen actively attacking, killing, and eating the captured bats (i.e., predation). The majority of identifiable captured bats were small aerial insectivorous bats, belonging to the families Vespertilionidae (64%) and Emballonuridae (22%) and usually being among the most common bat species in their respective geographic area. Large tropical orb-weavers of the genera Nephila and Eriophora in particular have been observed catching bats in their huge, strong orb-webs (of up to 1.5 m diameter). Eighty-eight percent of the reported incidences of bat catches were attributable to web-building spiders and 12% to hunting spiders. In addition to this, an attack attempt by a large araneomorph hunting spider of the family Pisauridae on an immature bat was witnessed. Bat-catching spiders belong to the mygalomorph family Theraphosidae and the araneomorph families Nephilidae, Araneidae, and Sparassidae. Most reports refer to the Neotropics (42% of observed incidences), Asia (28.8%), and Australia-Papua New Guinea (13.5%). Bat-catching spiders have been reported from virtually every continent with the exception of Antarctica (∼90% of the incidences occurring in the warmer areas of the globe between latitude 30° N and 30° S). In this paper more than 50 incidences of bats being captured by spiders are reviewed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |