http://hdl.handle.net/11606/49 Artículos de Acceso Abierto y Manuscritos de Investigadores entregados a ACG Fri, 03 Apr 2026 18:30:55 GMT 2026-04-03T18:30:55Z http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1540 Visits at artificial RFID flowers demonstrate that juvenile flower-visiting bats perform foraging flights apart from their mothers Rose, Andreas; Tschapka, Marco; Knörnschild, Mirjam During the transition from parental care to independent life, the development of adequate foraging skills is a major challenge for many juvenile mammals. However, participating in their parents’ knowledge by applying social learning strategies might facilitate this task. For several mammals, communal foraging of adults and offspring is suggested to be an important mechanism in mediating foraging-related information. For the large mammalian taxon of bats, only little is known about foraging-related social learning processes during ontogeny. It is often suggested that following their mothers during foraging flights would represent a valuable option for juveniles to socially learn about foraging, e.g., where to find resource-rich foraging patches, but explicit tests are scarce. In the present study, we investigated the foraging behavior of juvenile flower-visiting bats (Glossophaga soricina) in a dry forest in Costa Rica. We tested whether recently volant, but still nursed pups perform foraging flights alone, or whether pups follow their mothers, which would enable pups to socially learn where to feed. For that, we trained mothers and pups to feed from artificial flowers with a RFID reading system and, subsequently, conducted a field experiment to test whether RFID-tagged mothers and pups visit these flowers communally or independently. Unexpectedly, pups often encountered and visited artificial flowers near the day roost, while mothers rarely did, suggesting that they foraged somewhere further away. Our results demonstrate that still nursed juveniles perform foraging flights apart from their mothers and might learn about the spatial distribution of food without participating in their mother’s knowledge, for instance, by following other conspecifics or applying individual learning strategies. An initial potential lack of foraging success in this period is likely compensated by the ongoing maternal provisioning with breast milk and regurgitated nectar during daytime. Our results contribute to the growing body of research on the ontogeny of mammalian foraging behavior in general. Tue, 21 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1540 2020-07-21T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1537 Revision of the New World genus Enderleiniella Becker, 1912 (Diptera, Chloropidae) Mlynarek, Julia J. The genus Enderleiniella Becker, 1912 is revised. The genus is distinguished on the basis of a somewhat flattened head with the inner vertical setae located anteromedially to the outer vertical setae, three lightly incised lines on the scutum, trapezoidal or rectangular scutellum with marginal setae borne on tubercles, reduced alula and anal angle of the wing, and the structure of the male genitalia. The genus contains eleven species in the northern Neotropical and southern Nearctic Regions: E. caerulea sp. nov. (type locality: Blue Creek, Belize); E. cryptica sp. nov. (type locality: 24 km W Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica); E. flavida sp. nov. (type locality: Emerald Pool, Dominica); E. longiventris (Enderlein, 1911) (type species; type locality: Costa Rica); E. maculata sp. nov. (type locality: Xilitla, San Luis Potosi, Mexico); E. marshalli sp. nov. (type locality: Guanacaste, Costa Rica); E. maya sp. nov. (type locality: Las Escobas, Guatemala); E. punctata sp. nov. (type locality: Potrerillo, Bolivia); E. tripunctata (Becker, 1916) (type locality: San Mateo, Costa Rica); E. tumescens sp. nov. (type locality: San Esteban, Venezuela); and E. wheeleri sp. nov. (type locality: Turrialba, Costa Rica). Wed, 30 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1537 2019-10-30T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1536 Neotropical Copestylum Macquart (Diptera: Syrphidae) Breeding in Fruits and Flowers, Including 7 New Species Ricarte, Antonio; Marcos-García, M. Ángeles; Hancock, E. Geoffrey; Rotheray, Graham E. en species of Copestylum (Diptera: Syrphidae) were reared from fruits and flowers in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Trinidad. Seven were new and in this paper, we describe them, their development sites and the third stage larva and/or the puparium of all ten species. One new synonym is proposed, Copestylum pinkusi (Curran) [= Copestylum cinctiventre (Curran)]. Similarities and differences between these new and other Copestylum species, suggest they separate into two groups, referred to as the Vagum and Cinctiventre species groups. Features characterising these groups for both adult and early stages are assessed. Each species was also distinguished using adult and early stage characters. Within the Vagum group, adults were more disparate morphologically than the larval stage; this was reversed in the Cinctiventre group. Adult colour patterns are probably cryptic in function and for disguise. Vagum species have disruptive marks, while the Cinctiventre species have reflective colours. Biologically, the groups are almost distinguished by larval development sites. Vagum species use predominantly fruits and have a larval stage that is relatively generalised in form and habit. Cinctiventre species are confined to developing in flowers and the larva is more specialised. A key to both adult and early stages of all ten species is provided. Wed, 18 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1536 2015-11-18T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1521 Allometric scaling laws linking biomass and rooting depth vary across ontogeny and functional groups in tropical dry forest lianas and trees Smith-Martin, Chris M.; Xu, Xiangtao; Medvigy, David; Schnitzer, Stefan A.; Powers, Jennifer S. There are two theories about how allocation of metabolic products occurs. The allometric biomass partitioning theory (APT) suggests that all plants follow common allometric scaling rules. The optimal partitioning theory (OPT) predicts that plants allocate more biomass to the organ capturing the most limiting resource. Whole-plant harvests of mature and juvenile tropical deciduous trees, evergreen trees, and lianas and model simulations were used to address the following knowledge gaps: (1) Do mature lianas comply with the APT scaling laws or do they invest less biomass in stems compared to trees? (2) Do juveniles follow the same allocation patterns as mature individuals? (3) Is either leaf phenology or life form a predictor of rooting depth? It was found that: (1) mature lianas followed the same allometric scaling laws as trees; (2) juveniles and mature individuals do not follow the same allocation patterns; and (3) mature lianas had shallowest coarse roots and evergreen trees had the deepest. It was demonstrated that: (1) mature lianas invested proportionally similar biomass to stems as trees and not less, as expected; (2) lianas were not deeper-rooted than trees as had been previously proposed; and (3) evergreen trees had the deepest roots, which is necessary to maintain canopy during simulated dry seasons. Tue, 29 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11606/1521 2019-10-29T00:00:00Z