Observations on guano and bolus of Indian flying fox, Pteropus giganteus

摘要

Bats are cosmopolitan in distribution, except in the Arctic and Antarctic 1 . The Indian subcontinent harbours a variety of chirop-terans, including frugivorus bats 2 . Over 200 species of flying foxes are distributed throughout the tropics and beingfrugivorous they play a major role in pollination and seed dispersal 3 . The Indian flying fox, Pteropus giganteus Brunnich commonly roosts on large trees (e.g. Ficus; Figure 1 a). They earned the name ‘flying fox’, as the head and fur resemble a fox (Figure 1 a, b). Their roosting results in the accumu-lation of substantial amount of guano on the floor (Figure 1 c).