Do bats use guano and urine stains to find new roosts? Tests with three group-living bats

摘要: Many animals use social cues to find refuges. Bats can roosts using the echolocation and calls of conspecifics, but they might also scent cues, a possibility which is less studied. The entrances bat are often marked by guano urine, providing possible cues. We conducted eight experiments test whether bats urine potential roosts. In field experiments, we tested if Molossus molossus (velvety free-tailed bats) in Panama Eptesicus fuscus (big brown Ohio would investigate artificial roost boxes that were scented with more than paired unscented control. did not detect any difference flights near versus roosts, detected only one entrance into (scented). six captive for attraction Desmodus rotundus (common vampire areas under several conditions. Results mixed, overall suggested does act as strong lure species. suggest further tests olfaction-based choice should manipulate existing on familiar