Ecobiology of haematophagous bats captured in Juruti municipality, Lower Amazonas, Para state, Brazil

Resumo

Among the 1.200 species of bats belonging to the order Chiroptera, only Diaemus youngi, Diphylla ecaudata and Desmodus rotundus are haematophagous, with D. rotundus being the most commonly found and having the most widely studied and understood biology. This species feeds on the blood of birds and mammals, including humans. To understand the ecobiological characteristics of haematophagous bats in the Municipality of Juruti, Lower Amazonas, Pará State, Brazil, bats were captured while feeding in 2013 and 2014 from solid ground and riparian regions. A general sampling of 371 hours resulted in 75 captured individuals of D. rotundus, including 26 adult males and 49 adult females, and 4 adult male D. youngi. Of these, 56 (75%) D. rotundus individuals were captured in solid ground regions and 19 (25%) in riparian areas. D. rotundus often attacked cattle, horses, goats, pigs and birds, rarely attacked dogs and occasionally attacked people. The region’s D. rotundus colonies were observed to consist of small groups of individuals, and the D. youngi is a species that has low participation in animal attacks in the Municipality of Juruti when compared with D. rotundus.