Do little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) use conspecific calls and odours to find new roosts?

Abstract

I tested the hypothesis that conspecific calls and odours would attract little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) to new roosts. I predicted bats would discover and use treatment boxes before control boxes. I built six new bat boxes and placed them near pre-existing roost boxes on the Hubley property, Newfoundland, Canada. Conspecific calls were broadcasted from one box and a cloth scented with conspecific odours placed in another. The other four boxes were controls. I compared the discovery date and number of bat visits between box types. Contrary to my hypothesis, bats did not first discover or prefer treatment boxes, thus these cues did not attract them to new roosts. The highest number of bat visits were made by juveniles to one control box towards the end of the study. Perhaps juvenile bats become more exploratory at the end of the summer when they are self-sufficient and leaving their summer roosts.