Unpredictable food sources drive some bats to cooperatively search for food

Date:  December 13, 2018

Source:  University of Maryland

Humans aren't the only species that have dinner parties. Scientists have observed many animals, including bats, eating in groups. However, little was known about whether bats actively help each other find food, a process known as social foraging.

With the help of novel miniature sensors, an international group of biologists that included University of Maryland Biology Professor Gerald Wilkinson found that bat species foraged socially if their food sources were in unpredictable locations, such as insect swarms or fish schools. In contrast, bats with food sources at fixed locations foraged on their own and did not communicate with one another while foraging or eating. The results of the study were published in the November 19, 2018 issue of the journal Current Biology.

"We were able to show that bats who can't predict where their food will be are the ones that cooperate with each other to forage," Wilkinson said. "And I don't think they are unique -- I think that if more studies are done, we will find that other bat species do similar things."

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A dolphin diet

Date: August 2, 2017

Source: University of California - Santa Barbara

Summary: The health of dolphin populations worldwide depends on sustained access to robust food sources. Marine biologists have now studied the diets of dolphin species to understand the animals' foraging habits and how they share ocean resources.

Continued

Fear of Predators Drives Honey Bees Away from Good Food Sources

Oct. 2, 2013 — Most of us think of honey bees as having a bucolic, pastoral existence -- flying from flower to flower to collect the nectar they then turn into honey. But while they're capable of defending themselves with their painful stings, honey bees live in a world filled with danger in which predators seize them from the sky and wait to ambush them on flowers.

Such fear drives bees to avoid food sources closely associated with predators and, interestingly, makes colonies of bees less risk-tolerant than individual bees, according to a study published in this week's issue of the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

"This strategy of colonies collectively exhibiting significantly more caution than the riskier individual foragers may help honey bees exploit all of the available food sources, with some intrepid foragers visiting more dangerous food while the colony judiciously decides how to best allocate its foraging," says James Nieh, a professor of biology at UC San Diego.

Nieh worked with scientists at Yunnan Agricultural University in China to study the impact on foraging Asian honey bees of the monstrous-looking Asian Giant hornet, Vespa tropica, and a smaller hornet species known as Vespa velutina, which has invaded Europe and now poses a threat to European honey bees.

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Black bear euthanized after eating Canada murderer - via D R Shoop (update on earlier story)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada (AP) --

Canadian conservation officers have euthanized a black bear that ate the remains of a convicted murderer.

British Columbia Environment Minister Terry Lake said Monday the bear's description matched that of one seen guarding a cache that contained the remains of Rory Wagner, 54. Examinations of fur at the scene as well as teeth and claw marks confirmed the bear that was euthanized is the one that ate the remains.

Lake said the animal was put down because bears remember food sources.

Officials suspect the bear pulled Wagner's body from his car after he died on a remote logging road.

Wagner pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1994. He and two others were charged with a killing a man who they believed had sexually assaulted a family member. He served his prison time and was released.

Wagner, who was living in Kamloops, British Columbia, was reported missing May 23. Police said his death was not suspicious. Hunters found the site last week.

Regional coroner Mark Coleman said it is not yet known how Wagner died.

Coleman said an autopsy showed the man was dead before the bear got him out of the car. Coleman said toxicology results to reveal how Wagner died would not be complete for several weeks.

Royal Canadian Mounted Poilce Sgt. Grant Learned said Wagner was on life parole and had been living in an approved facility in the city. He said Wagner had attended work May 21 and said he wouldn't be coming in to work in the following days.

When he failed to show up at his residence May 22, a warrant was issued for his arrest. His body was found shortly after.

"The degree of decomposition would suggest the body had been removed (from the car) after death," Learned said.

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