Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
    • For library administrators
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Experimental Biology
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

supporting biologistsinspiring biology

Journal of Experimental Biology

  • Log in
Advanced search

RSS  Twitter  Facebook  YouTube  

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
    • For library administrators
Research Article
Mysterious Mystacina: how the New Zealand short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) locates insect prey
Gareth Jones, Peter I. Webb, Jane A. Sedgeley, Colin F. J. O'Donnell
Journal of Experimental Biology 2003 206: 4209-4216; doi: 10.1242/jeb.00678
Gareth Jones
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Peter I. Webb
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jane A. Sedgeley
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Colin F. J. O'Donnell
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & tables
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Article Figures & Tables

Figures

  • Table 1.

    Wing shape and other morphological measurements of Mystacina tuberculata from Fiordland

    Parameter Females (N=9) Males (N=9)
    Body mass (g)15.99±0.7813.91±1.29
    Forearm length (mm)43.89±1.0542.21±0.56
    Wingspan (m)0.315±0.0080.296±0.0113
    Wing area (m2)0.0160±0.00100.0159±0.0007
    Aspect ratio6.20±0.305.54±0.48
    Wing loading (Nm-2)9.86±0.838.61±0.79
    Tip length ratio1.38±0.071.33±0.07
    Tip area ratio0.91±0.080.78±0.06
    Tip shape index1.99±0.401.47±0.33
    • Wing shape parameters were defined by Norberg and Rayner (1987). Means ± S.D. are reported.

  • Table 2.

    Echolocation call measurements made from free-flying Mystacina tuberculata

    Call parameter Forest (N=31 calls, 9 bats) Open (N=11 calls, 3 bats)
    Pulse duration (ms)2.5±0.43.5±0.3
    Pulse interval (ms)72.3±23.480.7±18.9
    Minimum frequency of fundamental harmonic (kHz)18.6±0.819.3±0.8
    Frequency of most energy in fundamental harmonic (kHz)27.7±2.726.6±1.4
    Maximum frequency of fundamental harmonic (kHz)37.4±2.136.3±1.5
    Upper frequency of third harmonic (kHz)90.7±4.986.3±2.9
    Frequency of most energy in second harmonic (kHz)49.3±2.545.5±1.7
    • Calls were recorded in a forested area close to the roost or from three bats released in an open area devoid of trees. Means ± S.D. of all calls are reported.

  • Fig. 1.
    • Download figure
    • Open in new tab
    • Download powerpoint
    Fig. 1.

    Search-phase calls of free-flying Mystacina tuberculata. (A) The waveform and (B) the spectrogram of two consecutive calls. (C) A power spectrum of the second call. Spectral analyses were performed with a 512 point FFT and a Hanning window.

  • Fig. 2.
    • Download figure
    • Open in new tab
    • Download powerpoint
    Fig. 2.

    A typical attack sequence of Mystacina tuberculata capturing a suspended insect in a flight room. (A) The waveform, (B) the spectrogram, (C) a power spectrum of the second call in the sequence (search phase) and (D) a power spectrum of the penultimate call (terminal phase). Spectral analyses were performed with a 512 point FFT and a Hanning window. Echoes have been removed from the sequence for clarity. Contact with the prey is shown by the low-frequency sound marked by the arrow in A.

  • Fig. 3.
    • Download figure
    • Open in new tab
    • Download powerpoint
    Fig. 3.

    A typical sequence of echolocation calls produced by Mystacina tuberculata locating a live mealworm buried in leaf litter. Waveforms are shown above spectrograms (512 point window) FFT, Hanning for three consecutive recording sequences. The bat emits search-phase calls as it orients in the room. It lands with a loud crash and then emits echolocation calls as it searches for the prey while on the ground. The low repetition rate of calls when on the ground and the absence of an increase in repetition rate immediately prior to finding the mealworm suggest that echolocation is not used for prey detection and localization, only for general orientation when on the ground. Notice the sudden increase in repetition rate once the bat becomes airborne again.

Previous ArticleNext Article
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

This Issue

 Download PDF

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Experimental Biology.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Mysterious Mystacina: how the New Zealand short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) locates insect prey
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Experimental Biology
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Experimental Biology web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Research Article
Mysterious Mystacina: how the New Zealand short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) locates insect prey
Gareth Jones, Peter I. Webb, Jane A. Sedgeley, Colin F. J. O'Donnell
Journal of Experimental Biology 2003 206: 4209-4216; doi: 10.1242/jeb.00678
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Research Article
Mysterious Mystacina: how the New Zealand short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) locates insect prey
Gareth Jones, Peter I. Webb, Jane A. Sedgeley, Colin F. J. O'Donnell
Journal of Experimental Biology 2003 206: 4209-4216; doi: 10.1242/jeb.00678

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Alerts

Please log in to add an alert for this article.

Sign in to email alerts with your email address

Article navigation

  • Top
  • Article
    • SUMMARY
    • Introduction
    • Materials and methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
    • References
  • Figures & tables
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF

Related articles

Cited by...

More in this TOC section

  • Nest substrate and tool shape significantly affect the mechanics and energy requirements of avian eggshell puncture
  • Jaw kinematics and tongue protraction-retraction during Chewing and drinking in the pig
  • Early developmental stages of native populations of Ciona intestinalis under increased temperature are affected by local habitat history
Show more RESEARCH ARTICLE

Similar articles

Other journals from The Company of Biologists

Development

Journal of Cell Science

Disease Models & Mechanisms

Biology Open

Advertisement

Predicting the Future: Species Survival in a Changing World

Read our new special issue exploring the significant role of experimental biology in assessing and predicting the susceptibility or resilience of species to future, human-induced environmental change.


Adam Hardy wins the 2020 Journal of Experimental Biology Outstanding Paper Prize

Congratulations to winner Adam Hardy for his work showing that goby fins are as touch sensitive as primate fingertips. Read Adam’s paper and find out more about the 12 papers nominated for the award.


Stark trade-offs and elegant solutions in arthropod visual systems

Many elegant eye specializations that evolved in response to visual challenges continue to be discovered. A new Review by Meece et al. summarises exciting solutions evolved by insects and other arthropods in response to specific visual challenges.


Head bobbing gives pigeons a sense of perspective

Pigeons might look goofy with their head-bobbing walk, but it turns out that the ungainly head manoeuvre allows the birds to judge distance.

Articles

  • Accepted manuscripts
  • Issue in progress
  • Latest complete issue
  • Issue archive
  • Archive by article type
  • Special issues
  • Subject collections
  • Interviews
  • Sign up for alerts

About us

  • About JEB
  • Editors and Board
  • Editor biographies
  • Travelling Fellowships
  • Grants and funding
  • Journal Meetings
  • Workshops
  • The Company of Biologists
  • Journal news

For Authors

  • Submit a manuscript
  • Aims and scope
  • Presubmission enquiries
  • Article types
  • Manuscript preparation
  • Cover suggestions
  • Editorial process
  • Promoting your paper
  • Open Access
  • Outstanding paper prize
  • Biology Open transfer

Journal Info

  • Journal policies
  • Rights and permissions
  • Media policies
  • Reviewer guide
  • Sign up for alerts

Contact

  • Contact JEB
  • Subscriptions
  • Advertising
  • Feedback

 Twitter   YouTube   LinkedIn

© 2021   The Company of Biologists Ltd   Registered Charity 277992