Foraging of the Indian Short-nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx on banana in shops and on the pieces dropped by monkeys at a temple

The Indian Short-nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx fed on the pieces of banana fruit that were dropped by monkeys on the tower of a temple and in nearby shops.  The monkeys obtained fruits from devotees and shop owners.  The peak number of bat visits occurred during pre- and post- midnight hours at the tower and shops, respectively, coinciding with the lights off situation and reduced human disturbance.  The bats landed on bunches of ripe bananas hanging in the front of shops.  The number of bat landings on the tower was greater than that in the shops.  The overall number of bat visits were higher during October when compared to other periods of the year.  This may be due to the occurrence of more festivals during October.  Our study is an example of opportunistic feeding, in which banana pieces dropped while monkeys were feeding on them were eaten by the bats.</p

Induction of defense-mechanisms in mungbean suspension cultured cells by an elicitor from macrophomina phaseolina

An elicitor molecule has been separated from Macrophomina phaseolina, the root rot pathogen of mungbean (Vigna radiata). Cell cultures of mung­bean cultivars one resistant and another susceptible to the pathogen, which responded to the elicitor have been established. The elicitor treatment induced rapid increases in phenolic synthesis, activation of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and peroxidase in the cultured cells. Relative increases in phenolic synthesis and peroxidase activity were observed in suspension-cultured cells of the resistant cultivar compared to that of the susceptible one due to elicitor treatment

The effect of daytime rain on the Indian Flying Fox (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Pteropodidae Pteropus giganteus)

Excessive water loss during the day due to heat stress in bats of the genus Pteropus appears to be inevitable, because these bats are exposed to direct sunlight.  Rain also affects the rest pattern of the Indian Flying Fox Pteropus giganteus during the day.  When rain occurred during the day, most of the bats hung in a slanting position and did not exhibit any movements.  After rain, they licked both ventral and dorsal surfaces of the wing membrane and scratched their body with their thumb claws.  They also licked the water droplets that remained on the leaves and branches of the tree.  Even though their rest had been affected by the rain the bats utilized the water droplets to quench their thirst, cool their body and clean their fur.  The construction of water reservoirs near Pteropus roosts will help to assure their long-term conservation. </div

Social grooming among Indian short-nosed fruit bats

<div>Videos showing various aspects of social grooming.</div><div><br></div><div>Social grooming is conspicuous in group-living mammals. Bats are gregarious and may groom each other, but the motivation for such social behaviour remains unclear. Here, we describe patterns and infer function of social grooming in tent-making Indian short-nosed fruit bats. Combining field and captivity observations, we found that males and their harem of females mutually groom and apply bodily secretions to one another in tight clusters. Mutual grooming is more commonly initiated by females, before emergence flight at dusk, and during the non-mating season. The within-harem association pattern suggests males may recognize female reproductive status via social grooming. Chemical analysis of the secretions applied during grooming revealed volatile organic compounds that may be involved in chemosensory-mediated communication and/or mate choice. These fruit bat harems were previously seen as simple aggregations, with limited interactions among individuals. Our findings suggest social grooming is multi-functional, with potential implications for the bats’ social lives.</div