DIET OVERLAP IN LEPTONYCTERIS-CURASOAE AN D GLOSSOPHAGA-LONGIROSTRIS (MAMMALIA, CHIROPTERA)

The assessment of fecal samples and microscopic slides made from polle n taken from the fur of 53 specimens of Leptonycteris curasoae capture d in a semiarid shrub area in Merida State, Venezuela, show that this bat eats polen of Cactaceae and Agavaceae, and fruits of the columnar cacti Stenocereus griseus and Subpilocereus repandus. Although L. cura soae highly overlaps diet with Glossophaga longirostris (Sq=82%), capt ure data suggest that L. curasoae occurrs in the area only when food a vailability is highest. Thus no significant interspecific competition seems to exist. Possibly. L. curasoae migrate locally according to S. griseus flower availability and the flowering of Agavaceae in other si tes of the arid zone of Lagunillas, where these am most abundant.