FOOD AND REPRODUCTIVE PATTERNS OF RHOGEES SA-MINUTILLA (CHIROPTERA, VESPERTILIONIDAE) IN AN ARID ZONE OF THE VENEZUELAN ANDES

The diet and reproductive condition of the bat Rhogeessa minutilla was evaluated throughout a year in a thorn shrub of the xerophitic pocket of Lagunillas in the Venezuelan Andes. The analysis of fecal samples showed that this vespertilionid bat eats small insects (3-12 mm) which are represented in 10 orders and 29 families. Of the global diet, 84. 9% belongs to four orders: Diptera (42.5), Hymenoptera(18.2),Lepidopte ra(13.3) and Coleoptera(10.9). The wide range of diet and seasonal rep lacement of the prey taxa, seem to point out that R. minutilla is an o pportunistic species in terms of the kind of prey, but selective in it s size and hardness. The reproductive data reveals a single peak of pr egnancies in the March-May period, and presence of juveniles in June-J uly. This seems to indicate a seasonal monoestrous reproductive patter n probably as a response to the major insect availability in the rainy season.