To do this, we placed a bat detector close to the cave from March 2014 to March 2018.

If these bats did exhibit lunar phobia, we expected to see a decrease in their activity during nights with bright moonlight, indicating possible predator avoidance strategies. Our study aimed to identify the peaks of foraging activity during this species' breeding and non-breeding seasons, and establish whether they exhibited lunar phobia. In late February, the bats leave the cave again to return to the wintering in caves in Gauteng. It's also well situated because the area has an abundance of insects. This maternity cave, also known as the Madimatle cave, probably has the right temperature and humidity needed for raising young. This is an abundant, cave-dwelling species found across southern Africa that feeds on a variety of insects.Įach spring, large numbers of bats migrate from caves in the Gauteng province to a cave in the Limpopo province, where females give birth and raise their young from November to February. Our team wanted to test whether the lunar phobia theory holds for a South African bat species, the Natal long-fingered bat. Investigating different factors influencing the behavior of South African bat species contributes to our understanding of these understudied animals. This is a glaring gap, given that South Africa has over 50 different species. To date, the lunar phobia theory has not been tested on the South African bat species. In contrast, males spend less time foraging to minimize the risk of being eaten. Females spend more time foraging and less time worrying about predators because they need to feed their young. Some bat species shift their foraging from open to forested areas on brightly moonlit nights.Īnimals may also have different activity schedules depending on their age and sex. Prey like bats are then expected to change their behavior accordingly. For example, owls-known predators of bats-are more active during brightly lit nights, spend shorter times searching for prey animals and are more successful when hunting. The lunar phobia theory suggests that nocturnal animals like bats are less active during brightly moonlit nights to avoid predators.

Farm bat brave app