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July 2002
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Nature Watch

Tent-making Bats

N Gopukumar and J Balasingh

N Gopukumar

N Gopukumar studied seasonal breeding behaviour in some Indian birds for his PhD at HNB Garhwal University. Later he joined the Department of Animal Behaviour and Physiology, Madurai Kamaraj University, and is presently studying the mating behaviour and social organization of fruit bats.

J Balasingh

J Balasingh has been working as a senior teacher in Zoology for 33 years in St. John’s College, Tirunelveli, and from 1993 onwards as its Principal. He has been associated with bat behaviour research for the past 22 years.

Every evening, against the backdrop of a setting sun, scores of both insect and fruit eating bats emerge out in search of food. While most of the bats emerge from pre-existing structures such as caves, crevices and human habitation, some emerge from structures modified by their own efforts. Our interest is particularly in the fruit bats emerging out from modified foliage. Because of their role in the regeneration of tropical forests by dispersing huge numbers of seeds, fruit bats are of profound importance. In this article, we discuss the mating strategy adopted by the Indian short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx, the mechanics of tent-making in this species, and some recent findings which argue for an alternative breeding strategy.

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Address for Correspondence
N Gopukumar
Department of Animal Behaviour &
Physiology School of Biological Sciences
Madurai Kamaraj University
Madurai 625 021 Tamil Nadu, India
Email: gopukumar99@hotmail.com

Indian Academy of Sciences
C.V.Raman Avenue, Post Box No. 8005,
Sadashivanagar Post, Bangalore 560 080

Tel: 91-80-3612546, 3614592, 3612943
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