학술논문
Comment on Dunbar et al. (2022) 'Webslinger vs. Dark Knight: First record of a false widow spider Steatoda nobilis preying on a pipistrelle bat in Britain'
Document Type
article
Author
Source
Web Ecology, Vol 22, Pp 97-100 (2022)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
2193-3081
1399-1183
1399-1183
Abstract
A recent publication in Ecosphere claimed to report the first case of a predation event by a theridiid spider on a bat globally and the first case of a member of the genus Steatoda preying on a mammal globally, and the paper concludes with possible implications for public health. Predation is typically understood to mean “capture, kill, and eat”. However, none of these aspects had been observed. Moreover, key aspects of bat biology were not taken into account, including that the bat in question was a flightless newborn, the capture of which would require some explanation. We revisit this interesting observation considering both bat and spider ecology.