Bats from the city of Itabira, Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil
Araújo Perini, FernandoRodrigo de Oliveira, Wagner
On account of the impacts caused by urbanization in natural populations and the impact caused bychiroptera in urban environment, the study of urban bats is indispensable. The objective of this study was toperform a survey on bats occurring in the urban area of Itabira city, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil.Bats were collected in three areas within the city of Itabira: Intelecto Forest, Campus of FUNCESI and a smallfarm named Geralda. Fieldwork was carried once a month in each area, during September/2004 to August /2005.Four mist nets were opened between 18:00h and 1:00h and were checked in intervals of 30 minutes. One hundredeighty individuals belonging to three families were captured: Phyllostomidae (96%), Vespertilionidae (3%) andMolossidae (1%), in a total of 13 species. Three species were common to the three areas: Artibeus lituratus, Platyrrhinus lineatus and Glossophaga soricina. Two species, Pygoderma bilabiatum and Lasiurus ega, were collected exclusively in Mata do Intelecto. Phyllostomus hastatus and Molossus molossus were collected exclusively in the small farm of Geralda. Most captured bats were generalist frugivores species, what could beattributed to selectivity, due to capture with mist nets. The higher number of species found in Mata do Intelectocould be attributed to its larger preserved area, and consequently higher habitat heterogeneity.