Food habits of northern (Eptesicus nilssoni) and brown long‐eared (Plecotus auritus) bats in Sweden

Food habits of sympatric northern and brown long‐eared bats were examined by analysis of droppings collected in six maternity roosts of each species. Relatively large, nocturnal flying insects such as moths (Lepidoptera), June‐beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), crane‐flies (Diptera: Tipulidae) and caddis‐flies (Trichoptera), were eaten by both bat species, representing 47% (by volume) of the northern and 57% of the long‐eared bat's diet. Small dipterans were important food items for the northern bat (47% of the diet) but not for the long‐eared bat, which instead consumed large amounts of diurnal or predominantly non‐flying taxa such as blow‐flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), earwigs (Dermaptera), spiders (Araneae) and harvestmen (Opiliones) (40% of the diet). The difference in food selection by the two species is probably due to the different foraging strategies used.