Notes on the dry season roosting and foraging behaviour of Epomophorus gambianus and Rousettus aegyptiacus (Chiroptera :Pteropodidae)

We studied the movements and foraging behaviour of Epomophorus gambianus and Rousettus aegyptiacus during the dry season in Rhodesia. The nightly activity of both species was concentrated in the riparian forest where they fed on the fruits of Diospyros senensis. Epomophorus gambianus roosted during the day high in the thick canopy of Trichelia emetica or Kigelia africana along the river banks and began foraging, each one in a preferred D. senensis shrub, before 1845 hrs. Rousettus aegyptiacus arrived in the study area approximately one hour later and appeared to forage in groups. The temporal separation of the feeding times of the two species of bats may provide a basis for the partitioning of a single species food resource.