Moth munchers: limited intraspecific variation in summer diet of the endangered Florida Bonneted Bat (<i>Eumops floridanus</i>).

Abstract

Urbanization drives biodiversity loss for many taxa, including arthropods, which serve as the foundation for terrestrial food webs worldwide. Understanding variation in diet among and within wildlife populations across a range of urbanization is especially important for endangered species that often face habitat loss and threats to their prey base. Here, we used molecular metabarcoding of feces to examine geographic and individual variation in the diet of endangered Florida Bonneted Bats, <i>Eumops floridanus</i>, a species whose range is constricted by rapid urban development and whose harem social structure may confer demographic differences in foraging. We used 2 primer sets to amplify insect prey from fecal samples collected from bats in 3 study regions that spanned an urbanization gradient and corresponded to genetically distinct populations. All samples tested contained Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera-with an especially high diversity of lepidopteran taxa including many large tympanate moths and agricultural pests. In contrast to our predictions, there was no clear influence of urbanization on diet nor marked differences between demographic groups apart from some subtle differences in diet composition and diversity. Instead, our results indicate that distinct populations of <i>E. floridanus</i> preyed on similar insect taxa across their range, with nearly half of identified prey genera being consumed by bats across all 3 regions. Bats from the moderately urban region with the greatest landscape heterogeneity did differ in diet composition and consumed a greater diversity of prey than bats from the urban region, suggesting some influence of landscape composition on foraging. The high overlap in insect prey consumed by <i>E. floridanus</i> across regions suggests that available prey is similar among regions or that the species may select similar resources across the range regardless of availability.